New Browns HC Todd Monken says he's "intrigued" by a QB already on the Cleveland roster ... and it's not a guy who played for the team in 2025. The coach used that description for Deshaun Watson at his opening news conference. And Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot reports that Monken and Watson are "eager" to work together. The QB last played in Week 7 of 2024, when a torn Achilles' tendon ended his season. Watson spent most of this past season still working back from the injury, gaining clearance for football activity in November.
Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk: "But Monken also said he is as excited to work with Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and any other quarterback the team acquires."
I was obviously joking with the headline to this news item. But Watson's past five years are still worth a quick recap.
You might have forgotten that he actually led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards back in 2020, a tremendous season that also included 70% completions and 33 TD passes (at a 6.1% rate).
But then came 27 accusations of sexual misconduct by massage therapists. Watson sat out the entire 2021 season. But Cleveland still thought it a good idea to acquire him for a package of draft picks that would make Mike Ditka blush and give the embattled QB a league-record $250 million guaranteed.
Watson opened 2022 with an 11-game suspension and then ranged from meh to poor across 19 games over the next three seasons.
He'll turn 31 at the start of the coming season, so Watson's still not yet old for the position. But we haven't seen him play truly good football for quite a while.
The burden's squarely on him to prove he can.
It's easy to make fun of the new coach's words regarding Watson. (That's why I already did it.) But you can't actually fault Monken for speaking positively about all the QBs on the roster he just inherited.
He's not responsible for any of those players joining the Browns, and I'm sure he has no idea at this point which among them will remain on the roster for 2026.
On top of that, the options available in free agency and the draft appear limited. So we'll see where this goes.
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