Browns Executive Has Surprising Comments On Deshaun Watson's Future

The Cleveland Browns star quarterback saw his 2024 season ended by a ruptured Achilles in Week 7 leaving his future with the franchise in doubt

Mar 25, 2022; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry talks with the media during a press conference to introduce new quarterback Deshaun Watson at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Cleveland Browns vice president of football operations Andrew Berry kept the door open on a possible Deshaun Watson return next season.

"Yeah, I think that's always possible," Berry said when asked if there is a world where Watson is back under center for the Browns in 2025.

Berry speaking in his annual "state of the franchise" bye week press conference did his best to dodge most questions pertaining to Watson and his future with his team. His common response centered around the team only focusing on Watson's recovery from a ruptured Achilles three weeks ago.

Despite Berry's open ended comments regarding Watson's future, Berry never fully committed to the 29-year-old being the team's starter moving forward either. The injury, according to Berry, makes it a difficult situation to forecast.

“Our focus, again, organizationally, is on making sure that he gets healthy," Berry. "Just the reality of it is, with any season ending injury, there is some uncertainty in terms of the recovery and so our focus is on making sure that he gets healthy and then we can move from there.”

Watson suffered the injury during the team's 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and had to be carted off the field. While he was down, though, some fans inside Huntington Bank Stadium broke out in cheers. The moment has been discussed as a point of no return in the weeks since between the fan base and Watson, who still has two more years on his $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract.

Berry was also quick to skirt around other questions regarding how they'll assess their quarterback situation moving forward, simply saying that the time for evaluating the roster will come in the offseason.

This latest injury, coupled with how poor the offense looked under Watson for the first seven weeks of the season has invoked plenty of questions regarding who was the main voice in the pursuit of Watson in the first place. On top of the record-setting contract he received from the Browns, Cleveland also gave up three first round picks to acquire his services back in 2022.

After trading Za'Darius Smith yesterday, what picks do the #Browns have in the 2025 draft? https://t.co/AJT8BUjVvD

— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) November 6, 2024

According to Berry, the decision was a group effort.

"All of us were on board," Berry said of the move on Wednesday. "Everyone's on board and obviously with a big commitment in that regard that's always going to be the case."

As for whether or not he or the organization regret the move for Watson, that's a thought Berry is kicking down the road – much like many of the guarantees in Watson's contract.

“I’m really not in reflection mode," the Browns executive said. "It's really not really my focus at this point in the year. Our focus is really on finishing out the 2024 season, having the team play at a higher level and then we'll get to those maybe longer or big picture reflections at a later point in time.”