The Cleveland Browns thought and hoped that Deshaun Watson would be their savior.
On paper, he was an upgrade over the inconsistent Baker Mayfield, and with the personnel they had, there were reasons to feel excited about him.
Fast forward to today, and that hasn’t been the case.
This might be one of the worst trades in professional sports history, not only because of how things turned out on the field but also because of the ripple effect it might have on the team.
Ironically, as pointed out by NFL analyst Tyler Brooke, this might actually help Kevin Stefanski.
In his latest column, he argued that as much as some decision-makers would want to blame the coach for this season, they’re not likely to find someone willing to take his job, knowing that Watson will still be there:
“There’s a chance the Browns will try to blame Stefanski for their recent struggles, but if they parted ways with their current head coach, there aren’t many candidates who would want to accept a role knowing that they’d be stuck with Watson as their starting quarterback. Expect Stefanski to stay put, unless he actively wants out,” Brooke said.
The Watson trade has had countless unforeseen consequences.
The team hasn’t been able to find a lot of young talent to replace some aging veterans because of the draft picks they gave away.
They can’t make big-name signings because of the salary-cap implications.
And now, they can’t even go after a different head coach because everybody in the league knows that their chances of improving the roster are quite slim.
Of course, this seemed like the right move at the time, and it’s easy to judge it afterward.
Stefanski has done a good job with this team for the most part, and he deserves another chance anyway.
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