Kevin Stefanski Should Make the Decision Whether to Bench Deshaun Watson

If it becomes time to make a change at quarterback, the coach should trust his gut no matter what his bosses think.

Stefanski has won Coach of the Year twice but has yet to get much out of Deshaun Watson. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Coaches and NFL team higher-ups often despise hypotheticals and assumptions from outside the facility, nevermind hypotheticals wrapped in hypotheticals wrapped in assumptions. It takes them out of a schedule in which every second is accounted for—and necessary—to perform a task that requires, as Jerry Jones might say, gnat surgery focus. 

Be that as it may, the Cleveland Browns are in a quarterbacking situation that looks to be approaching a decision point. Deshaun Watson, as colleague Matt Verderame outlined in a recent film breakdown, is increasingly hesitant to respond to openings provided via the offense. He’s taking an astronomical number of sacks (16), more than any other quarterback in the NFL heading into Week 4, and his ability to extend plays has been showcased inconsistently. 

Benching Watson is an idea that would have seemed unfathomable a few years ago, when the team signed him to what was then one of the most expensive contracts in NFL history, and remains the most binding one. It felt more possible after Joe Flacco led the club on a miraculous run to the postseason last year. Benching him for new backup Jameis Winston may now be the only avenue to a second consecutive playoff appearance for the Browns. It’s being discussed with some degree of regularity, though a recent report from The Athletic noted that there’s “no way” the team would do it any time soon. 

In my mind, choosing not to re-sign Flacco in free agency showed a discomfort with the idea of a fan favorite sitting behind the struggling franchise quarterback. Given the layers involved in that type of decision, here comes the sandwich of both hypothetical and outside assumption together: If Kevin Stefanski were ever to make a move toward benching Watson, he would need to clear that with a not insignificant number of people who are shackled to the enormity of this Watson contract and situation. 

If it comes to that point—and stripping away on-field performance from any contract considerations, it may already have—my thought is that Stefanski would be better off asking for forgiveness rather than permission. As you look around the NFL, teams that are vibrant and successful are coached by mostly younger offensive minds with the skills to retrofit an explosive scheme to almost any quarterback. Stefanski is one of a small number of coaches such as Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel, Sean McVay, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Reid and Shane Steichen who possess this ability and have showcased it with different passers. In Stefanski’s case, he has gotten great performances out of Baker Mayfield, Jacoby Brissett and Flacco. 

Watson made three Pro Bowls with the Houston Texans but has not been the same player in Cleveland. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What’s the worst that could happen to Stefanski? How big a slap on the wrist would he receive from his bosses for making his own decision about whom to play at quarterback? If the Browns dismissed him, he would be one of the first coaches hired the following January when the coaching carousel heats up. If they wanted something for him, Stefanski’s trade value would presumably be quite high. As an added bonus, he would be shielded from the fallout of a possibly difficult back-end of Watson’s contract, and maybe the team could recoup some draft picks to ease that pain. Now these are massive hypotheticals.

Admittedly, I don’t know if we are in this world or would ever be. But in thinking of the economics of the NFL, a superstar head coach is worth more—and costs a fraction of—a struggling franchise quarterback with off-field legal issues. Stefanski has to know this, or if not, should realize that if he arrives at the decision that Watson should no longer play, he should follow that instinct without fear that benching Watson would put him in a worse situation than he is currently in.

Few people like confrontation, but the reality of most workplaces is that there are folks who can afford to be confrontational and shake up the status quo and those who cannot. There are certain embattled coaches in the NFL right now whom, I’d guess, are afraid to ask for new Keurig flavors in the office lounge, nevermind the benching of the team’s highest-paid player. Stefanski, my guess, is not one of those coaches. 

Stefanski would not be the first coach with enough clout to send a highly paid quarterback to the bench. Sean Payton moved on from Russell Wilson. Doug Pederson, eventually, moved on from Carson Wentz. The Giants, after dismissing Ben McAdoo for his inability to properly sell the phasing out of Eli Manning, eventually allowed Pat Shurmur to spearhead the process. 

And a Watson turnaround—in concert with the NFL not finding the latest lawsuit filed against him suspension-worthy—would make this hypothetical moot. But, Watson being unavailable via suspension or continuing to struggle would only serve to strengthen Stefanski’s quarterback bona fides, as well as his ability to steer a team through a very complex situation. It would only strengthen the idea that Cleveland needs him more than just about anyone else in the organization right now and—unintentionally—it would probably make Stefanski more attractive to teams that could use both a fixer and a schematic expert (a list that is quite long, at least through three weeks of the season).

The Browns visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, which could either dramatically raise the stakes of a hypothetical such as this or quell them. The NFL ecosystem has such a game-by-game mindset, and a six-day period of relative peace is invaluable (even if a good game from Watson would mean two of his stronger games came against the winless Jacksonville Jaguars and then the Raiders). 

And for all we know, the Browns are still absolutely psyched about the idea of having Watson, believing that, as GM Andrew Berry said on the day the quarterback was signed for five years and $230 million guaranteed, “[Watson] is one of the best players at the position in this sport, he is obviously in his prime and we think it is the most important position in this sport.” 

However, if Stefanski ever feels differently, there would seem to be an easy way out for him personally. You know, hypothetically.