Four years ago, when the Browns, Panthers, Falcons, and Saints entered a four-way competition for quarterback Deshaun Watson, Cleveland was the first team to which Watson said, “No thanks.” A five-year, fully-guaranteed contract quickly changed his mind.
Still, there’s been a lingering perception that Watson didn’t really want to play for the Browns. Before too long, it seemed as if the Browns were counting the days until they could move on from Watson.
Will that change? On Friday, owner Jimmy Haslam kept the door open on Watson returning in 2027. On Saturday, Watson made his feelings for Cleveland clear.
“When I first got here, there was a lot of stuff going on, as the world knows,” Watson told reporters. “But I don’t have any bad feelings toward Cleveland. I love Cleveland. Me and my wife have our house on the east side, so we’re here all the time. We were here this summer. If you ask around, I’m at pretty much all the restaurants, hanging out, so I haven’t had a bad experience outside of different times in the stadium. I don’t know why that narrative is out there that people think that I don’t like Cleveland. My family and I have been enjoying our time here, if the opportunity shows up, we’ll see where it goes.”
The first step will be winning the starting job. The second step will be playing well enough to return. And the third step will be fending off any other teams that may want Watson, if he re-establishes himself as a high-level NFL starter.
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