The Cleveland Browns have been looking for a franchise quarterback for decades.
They’ve had some tough breaks along the way, striking out on players who looked like sure stars, but they haven’t done themselves any favors at times, either.
That was certainly the case when they traded for Deshaun Watson.
He had been away from the game for a year and was facing some serious accusations, but the Browns didn’t waver.
That’s why it’s not a surprise to see that infamous deal with the Houston Texans included on a Bleacher Report list of the most lopsided trades in recent sports history.
“Deshaun Watson missed the entire 2021 season after nearly two dozen women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct or harassment. That didn’t stop the Browns from trading a package including three first-round picks for him, though. Not only that, but they gave him the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history (five years, $230 million) as part of the trade. That backfired spectacularly. Watson was suspended for 11 games in 2022 and has scuffled through two injury-ravaged seasons since. He’s currently recovering from a torn Achilles, and it appears unlikely that he’ll ever play another snap for Cleveland,” Lee Escobedo wrote.
They gave Watson a contract worth a massive chunk of the salary cap, even though he hadn’t suited up for them and was almost surely going to be suspended by the NFL.
Watson’s actions off the field were reason enough not to pursue him, and while he did look like a superstar at times for Houston, there were no guarantees he would get back to that level.
Granted, from a football standpoint, it arguably made sense to make the trade, as no one anticipated him being that bad.
But given the way it worked out, being mentioned on a list like this is fitting.
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