After the Cleveland Browns entered their Week 10 bye at 2-7, general manager Andrew Berry raised eyebrows when he interestingly declined to confirm that injured quarterback Deshaun Watson will ever again take a meaningful snap for the franchise.
For an update shared on Monday, Browns insider Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand suggested neither Berry nor head coach Kevin Stefanski will be involved in the club's process of finding a long-term replacement for Watson.
"The vibes I received were of the 'dead men walking' kind," Grossi noted about what he noticed inside the Browns' facility. "Something internally must have happened over the bye or in the days preceding it. Yes, there is pressure to win and turn things around. But the fact is Berry and Stefanski received contract extensions prior to the season. That alone should have given both the confidence that they could ride out one horrendous season in their five-year partnership. I felt that confidence was there earlier, but not now."
It's easy to understand why Browns owner Jimmy Haslam could blow things up less than 12 full months after Stefanski received the second Associated Press Coach of the Year Award of his tenure. In short, Cleveland replacing fan-favorite quarterback Baker Mayfield by acquiring Watson and then giving him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract in March 2022 now looks like an all-time NFL mistake.
Watson has thus far started just 19 regular-season games for the Browns, as he has missed time over the past several years due to a suspension related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions and because of multiple injury setbacks. Most recently, he was arguably the league's worst starting quarterback of the ongoing season before he went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon on Oct. 20.
Cleveland's decision to replace offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Ken Dorsey last offseason in an attempt to fix Watson backfired dramatically. Additionally, the money left on Watson's deal will likely prevent the Browns from winning much of note before the 2026 season at the earliest.
History shows regimes responsible for these types of blunders are almost always sent packing.
As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Browns as one-point underdogs for this coming Sunday's game at the 3-7 New Orleans Saints. Unless Cleveland begins a winning streak before Thanksgiving, rumors about Berry and Stefanski will likely hover over the organization up until Haslam confirms calls about their futures in January.
