Cleveland's Deshaun Watson was listed among 15 trade candidates this offseason. Watson recently suffered a setback in his injury comeback from an Achilles tendon tear, the Browns front office announced:

The Browns seem to be giving Watson one last chance to prove himself, but that doesn’t mean Cleveland won’t finally cut the cord once and for all. Whether through the draft or free agency, general manager Andrew Berry is poised to add another legitimate signal-caller — and it wouldn’t be a shocker if that newcomer supplants Watson.

In his three seasons in Cleveland, Watson has never exceeded a 66.8 season-long passing grade. More specifically, he’s notched a single-game overall grade of 80.0 or better in only one of 19 games as a Brown. There’s little defense to even restarting the Watson engine one more time — and a high chance that the Browns move on soon.

The caveat with moving Watson is that the Browns would almost definitely need to do so later in the offseason. According to Over the Cap, Cleveland would incur $26.9 million in dead cap in both 2025 and 2026 if trading Watson after June 1; that number climbs all the way to $80.7 million in 2025 alone if before that date. That could actually work in the organization’s favor, allowing a competition to play out before making a final verdict.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-trade-candidates-2025-nfl-offseason