Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam didn’t mince words earlier this year when he called the Deshaun Watson trade a mistake and made it relatively clear that his time in Cleveland was done. After the Browns opened up Watson’s practice window on Wednesday, suddenly, that doesn’t seem like the case.
Cleveland now has three weeks to activate Watson to the active roster after opening his practice window on Wednesday, which gives him plenty of time to make it back before the regular season ends. This would have been an unthinkable situation earlier this year, but it’s now a reality, and Watson was back on the practice field on Wednesday.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot shared a video on X of Watson participating in his first practice of the year.
The video showed him taking a snap and doing a simple drop back before throwing a pass to Kaden Davis of the practice squad.
Another glimpse of #Browns QB Deshaun Watson throwing in practice for the first time this season: pic.twitter.com/kU1HyjisSn
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) December 3, 2025
Cleveland came into this season with a four-man quarterback competition, and there’s now a very real possibility that none of those four quarterbacks will be the starter at the end of this season. It’s unclear what the plan is for Watson, but opening his practice window means he will be activated when he is ready.
Whether or not he starts remains to be seen, as the Browns should still want to get an extended look at Shedeur Sanders ahead of the 2026 draft. The only argument for playing Watson would be to showcase him for a potential trade, as it would be hard to believe the Browns actually think he can pick up where he left off years ago and be this team’s franchise quarterback again after all that has transpired.
It’s a messy situation, and there’s no use in trying to make sense of it just yet.
We’ll see how Watson does in practice, but for now, Sanders is the starter and has a great matchup on Sunday against the league’s worst team in the 1-11 Tennessee Titans.
NEXT: 7 Browns Players Are Dealing With Injuries
