The 2024 season has thus far settled into a familiar pattern for the Cleveland Browns — at least one inexcusable loss to a seemingly inferior team, a poor record and a poor chance of making the playoffs.
To make matters worse, they’re seemingly stuck with continued poor play from quarterback Deshaun Watson, a former three-time Pro Bowler who now almost looks like he has forgotten how to play solid football.
Not only did they give up lots of capital to get him two years ago, but they also gave him a five-year contract with a fully guaranteed $230 million right after acquiring him.
Nick Wright said on “What’s Wright? with Nick Wright” that the only “escape hatch” for the Browns to get out of their current predicament is to trade Watson, along with their own first-round pick in 2025, to a team with lots of salary cap space.
At the time the Browns landed Watson, it looked like they had assembled a roster that could consistently make the playoffs and even make some noise there.
However, Watson was dogged by numerous misconduct allegations, and perhaps it could be argued that those allegations brought him and the Browns some bad karma.
In an objective sense, the team does have a solid roster that includes five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and star running back Nick Chubb.
Unfortunately, Chubb is still out after last season’s devastating knee injury, and it is possible that, like Watson, he never returns to his prior level of play.
