Any doubt that the Deshaun Watson contract with the Cleveland Browns was one of the worst in the history of professional sports was removed on Friday. It was announced by the team that the controversial 29-year-old quarterback had suffered yet another Achilles tear, his second in less than three months, and his status for the entire 2025 NFL season is in serious jeopardy.
Injury To Deshaun Watson Likely Keeps Him Out Of 2025 Season
It is just the latest in what has become an unfortunate saga for Watson’s career. After 22 lawsuits alleging sexual assault came out naming the then-Houston Texans QB, he was given a second chance in Cleveland when he signed the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history. After serving a league mandated suspension in his first season with the Browns, Watson struggled to regain the form that made him a Pro Bowler in Houston, posting the worst passer rating of his career in 2022.
Then, the injury bug caught up with him. He was only able to start 6 games in 2023 before having season-ending surgery on his shoulder, and returned to play in just 7 games in 2024 before rupturing his Achilles tendon. He was eyeing a return at some point in 2025, but the news came out on Friday that he had re-injured his latest ailment, which will likely cause him to miss the entirety of the next NFL season.
It comes as a major blow to Deshaun Watson’s already fading career, and confirmation that the Browns made a colossal mistake in signing him to the contract that they did. There are now serious doubts about him every playing another snap in Cleveland, who will likely spend assets this spring to bring in a new quarterback prospect of the future.
Watson Earned More Than $12 Million Per Game Played
The numbers are staggering when comparing the player’s contract to his performance. Thanks to his deal being fully guaranteed, Watson will have collected $230 million from the Browns when all is said and done. That means that the embattled QB made $12.1 million per game that he played in Cleveland (19), and the same amount for each touchdown he threw as a member of the Browns.
Especially now per the latest injury news (repeat Achilles rupture), there’s a very realistic possibility that Deshaun Watson has played his last snap for the #Browns.
If that is the case, it means Cleveland will have paid out $229.4M for 19 games of work.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) January 10, 2025
Breaking it down even further, Watson earned $412,926 for each completed pass, and over $55,000 for each single yard that he threw for.
How does the Deshaun Watson contract stack up against the other bad deals in league history? During the same off-season that Watson signed his contract in Cleveland, the Broncos gave Russell Wilson a $245 million contract extension. While Wilson had similarly poor results in Denver, “only” $124 million of that was guaranteed, nearly half of the amount that Watson received. And while it was during a different period in the NFL, even Albert Haynesworth only managed to take home $41 million of his $100 million deal.
The Browns hold the rights to the no. 2 pick in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.