The Cleveland Browns aren’t focused on their future at quarterback as they turn the corner into the playoffs, but as soon as this run ends they will be.
Cleveland decided long ago — and probably much to its chagrin now — to lock up Deshaun Watson on a five-year deal worth $230 million guaranteed. With three more seasons left on that deal, the team is stuck with a QB who has mostly underperformed when he’s been on the field, which hasn’t been all that often due to an NFL suspension in 2022 and a bum throwing shoulder this year.
Even if Watson could play in the postseason, the Browns would almost certainly stick with the red-hot Joe Flacco, who has earned a new contract and should be in line to get one despite the albatross that is Watson’s deal oppressing Cleveland’s cap sheet through the 2026 campaign.
On December 27, Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac predicted the Browns will sign Flacco to a two-year deal this offseason.
“Cleveland doubles down on an already expensive QB situation, signing Joe Flacco to a two-year, $12 million extension ($7.5 million guaranteed) to remain a viable fill-in for Deshaun Watson, who sees his base salary converted to [a] signing bonus, freeing up $36 million of cap space,” Ginnitti wrote.
Ginnitti’s prediction is not outlandish, but contains one potentially erroneous assumption — that Flacco is willing to take a backseat to Watson and/or that Cleveland will ask him to do so.
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