Heading into the 2025 NFL season, it was anyone’s best guess as to who would start the season at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. They took two QBs in the draft, but ultimately signed Joe Flacco as a safety blanket, who was the team’s starter when the season started.
Adding Flacco was a necessity for the Browns, as they weren’t confident in their two rookies to begin the season, and Deshaun Watson was still on the shelf due to his injury. There wasn’t a lot of discourse surrounding Watson for most of the season, but he has been brought up more lately, as the team opened up his 21-day window to return.
However, this window expires on December 23rd, and barring a surprising move, it appears that the Browns will keep him sidelined, which analyst Zac Jackson talked about.
“My guess is the Browns will shut Watson down for the season. Even if he’s activated, it would likely to be just to keep him practicing. There was never much realistic chance he’d play this year. As for what happens next with his contract, we will see – likely in late February,” Jackson posted on X.
My guess is the Browns will shut Watson down for the season. Even if he’s activated, it would likely to be just to keep him practicing. There was never much realistic chance he’d play this year.
As for what happens next with his contract, we will see – likely in late February
— Zac Jackson (@AkronJackson) December 22, 2025
As Jackson mentioned, Watson isn’t likely to play in the Browns’ final two games of the season. The team has committed to Shedeur Sanders for these games, for better or for worse, and it seems like they’ll deal with the Watson situation over the next few months.
Watson, of course, signed the biggest guaranteed contract in NFL history, but with his injuries and off-field issues, has been disappointing and underwhelmed expectations.
He hasn’t yielded anything close to what the Browns were hoping for when they signed him, and it’s put them in a difficult spot for the foreseeable future from a cap space perspective.
NEXT: Browns On Brink Of Making Unwanted AFC North History
