Browns make decision on Deshaun Watson's status for final two games of 2025 season
Cleveland recently opened Watson's 21-day practice window
By
Bryan DeArdo
•
2 min read
After recently opening up Deshaun Watson's 21-day practice window, the Cleveland Browns will not be activating their veteran quarterback this season, coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Tuesday. The Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday before concluding the season with a road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Watson, 30, has not played since he sustained an Achilles injury during the seventh game of the 2024 season. He then re-aggravated the injury in January.
A three-time Pro Bowl quarterback with the Houston Texans, Watson's career took a turn in 2021 when he was sidelined by the Texans for an entire year while facing numerous sexual misconduct allegations from women. Watson had requested a trade prior to the allegations made against him.
Despite the allegations, Watson signed a unprecedented five-year, fully-guaranteed $230 million deal with the Browns that offseason after being traded for two future first-round picks in addition to other draft picks.
Months after joining the Browns, Watson reached settlements with 20 of the 24 women who had filed a civil lawsuit against him. Watson was then fined $5 million by the NFL and suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season.
Since that time, Watson has played in just 19 games for the Browns, accruing a 9-10 record in those games. His best season in Cleveland took place in 2023, when he went 5-1 as the team's starter before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury during a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Last season, Watson was completing 63.4% of his passes (his highest total since 2020) before suffering his latest season-ending injury.
Two months after the 2024 season concluded, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted regret in terms of the Watson signing.
"We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun," Haslam said during the NFL owners meetings. "We thought we had the quarterback, we didn't and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole. [It] was an entire organization decision, and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable."
The Browns rebuilt their quarterback room this offseason despite Watson still being under contract through the 2026 season. The team traded Kenny Pickett (who was then traded to the Las Vegas Raiders), signed veteran Joe Flacco and selected Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Flacco started the season as Cleveland's starter, but he was traded to Cincinnati shortly after he lost his starting job to Gabriel, who subsequently lost his job to Sanders shortly after he sustained a concussion during a Week 11 loss to the Ravens. Sanders has a 1-3 record as Cleveland's starter entering Sunday's game against the Steelers.
