Watson is currently in the third year of a five-year, fully guaranteed, $230 million contract he signed after being traded from the Houston Texans to the Browns in March 2022. In 2025 and 2026 he will earn $46 million.

The 29-year-old signal caller has failed to make the impact Cleveland had hoped for when the team sent three first-round draft picks and two other selections to Houston to acquire a QB in Watson, who made the Pro Bowl in threes. of his first four seasons before sitting out the entire 2021 campaign amid a trade request and allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions.

Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season and fined $5 million for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. In the six games following his suspension in 2022, Watson has not looked like his former self, completing a career-worst 58.2 percent of his passes.

The Browns QB started just six games during an injury-marred 2023 season that necessitated season-ending shoulder surgery last November, and his struggles continued into 2024.

Watson entered Sunday with just five touchdowns in six games for the 1-5 Browns, who have failed to score 20 or more points in a game this season.