Cleveland Browns' Deshaun Watson walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Cleveland, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
To fully appreciate (or commiserate) just how bad the Browns situation is, you need an understanding of their past. Things have never gone well for the Browns. They’re that one friend you have that just never can seem to catch a break. In the late 90’s, owner Art Modell wished to move the team to Baltimore. What ended up happening was the NFL gained ownership of the team and in return, Modell would be gifted a new franchise. Al Lerner took the team over in 1999, and the organization has been a swath of busted draft picks, playoff droughts and a head coaching carousel that reads like a who’s who of failed NFL coaches. The Browns are currently on their 12th head coach (Kevin Stefanski) in 25 years. They only had one other coach besides Stefanski to earn a winning record. That was Gregg Williams who went 5-3 as interim head coach but was not hired the following season. Instead, the Browns decided to go with Freddie Kitchens saying they “felt better about the team’s future with Kitchens”. Kitchens would last one season as head coach with a record of 6-10.
Here is a list of every coach and their record before Stefanski since 1999:
- (1999-2000) Chris Palmer: 5-27
- (2001-2004) Butch Davis: 24-35 (0-1 in playoffs)
- (2004) Terry Robiskie: 1-4
- (2005-2008) Romeo Crennel: 24-40
- (2009-2010) Eric Mangini: 10-22
- (2011-2012) Pat Shurmur: 9-23
- (2013) Rob Chudinski: 4-12
- (2014-2015) Mike Pettine: 10-22
- (2016-2018) Hue Jackson: 3-36
- (2018) Gregg Williams: 5-3
- (2019) Freddie Kitchens: 6-10
- Combined: 101-234
The only list longer (and sadder) than this for the Browns is the list of quarterbacks that have started in Cleveland in that timeframe.
- 1999 — Tim Couch, Ty Detmer
- 2000 —Tim Couch, Doug Pederson, Spergon Wynn
- 2001 — Tim Couch
- 2002 —Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb
- 2003 — Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb
- 2004 — Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown
- 2005 — Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye
- 2006 — Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson
- 2007 — Derek Anderson, Charlie Frye
- 2008 —Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski
- 2009 — Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn
- 2010 — Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace
- 2011 — Colt McCoy, Seneca Wallace
- 2012 — Brandon Weeden, Thad Lewis
- 2013 — Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer
- 2014 — Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw
- 2015 — Johnny Manziel, Josh McCown, Austin Davis
- 2016 — J. McCown, Cody Kessler, Robert Griffin III
- 2017 — DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hogan
- 2018 — Baker Mayfield, Tyrod Taylor
- 2019 — Baker Mayfield
- 2020 — Baker Mayfield
- 2021 — Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum, Nick Mullens
- 2022 — Jacoby Brissett, Deshaun Watson
- 2023 — Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, P.J. Walker, Jeff Driskel
And you can add another name to this list in 2024 as Jameis Winston has been given the starting role against the Ravens on Sunday. Which brings us to the next little issue the Browns are dealing with. They are into Deshaun Watson for $230 million guaranteed, who is now out for the season with a ruptured Achilles. But Watson’s performance on the field will not be missed, lets dive into the numbers to see just how bad this deal was for Cleveland.
How poor has Watson and the offense’s production been? Only six teams have managed fewer red zone possessions through six games since the 2000 season, Cleveland is tied for 784th out of 798 possible teams. Cleveland had an 0-for-25 streak on third downs going at halftime of the Eagles game, but it didn’t include a third-and-2 late in the Commanders game in which the Browns ran for 4 yards and Washington jumped offsides. The Browns are 797th out of 798 possible teams in converting third downs through seven games. So, what about Watson specifically? Since 2007, out of 566 passers through six weeks, Watson ranks: QBR: 558th Yds/Dropback: 565th First Down Rate: 566th. He is last in the league in Total QBR (21.5). QBR has existed since 2007, and among passers who threw 100 pass attempts or more across their team’s first six games, Watson’s season ranks 558th out of 566. He gets sacked on a league-high 12.4% of his dropbacks this season, which is nearly double the average rate of 6.7% and is the highest rate of any starter. He’s just 3-of-17 for 77 yards on deep balls. Eleven of those 17 deep throws were considered off-target attempts by ESPN’s tracking, the second-highest rate for anybody.
Watson’s year, now done, will go down as arguably one of the worst and most disappointing the NFL has ever seen. And to add salt to the wound, the Browns fans had to swallow the fact their quarterback was completing more sexual harassment settlements off the field than he was deep passes on the field, literally. The only thing worse than his play and his character is his contract. In 2025, Deshaun Watson will account for 22.7% of the team’s cap space. In 2026, that number jumps to 25%. The way the Browns structured his contract was he would only earn a little north of $1 million in his first three years as a Brown. This was partially done to account for the fact that he would serve an eleven-game suspension in 2022 for violating the NFL’s code of conduct policy. In reality, the Browns really haven’t paid him yet. The quarterback you saw through the first seven weeks who just went down with a ruptured Achilles? The Browns are cutting him a check for $72,935,000 in 2025 and another one for the exact same amount in 2026. At this point, the Browns are not paying top dollar for Watson’s play on the field, but instead funding his settlements with his accusers. I simply don’t know where the Browns can go from here. With the trade of Amari Cooper to Buffalo, it seems they are tearing things down and looking to start from scratch, but because of the Watson contract, there will be a few more years of darkness. Maybe the most alarming of all these stats is that the Browns have had ten different people either as General Manager or Director of Football Operations since ’99. The reason that is so alarming is because those are the folks who decided that long list of coaches and quarterbacks, and how much they were paid.
You almost feel bad for the Browns until you realize they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into, then you just feel bad for the fans. The Browns currently sit at 1-6 and host the 5-2 Ravens this Sunday.
Bill Barnwell contributed stats to this story
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