‘He’ll be given a chance to compete’: Inside the Browns’ complicated Deshaun Watson plan for 2026
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns face an $80 million dilemma with Deshaun Watson in 2026. After missing most of 2024 and all of 2025 with an Achilles injury, Watson’s massive cap hit creates an unprecedented situation that the Orange and Brown Talk podcast dissected in detail.
“Right now his cap hit is $80 million. Even if they drop that to like $40-something, if he’s going to be on the roster, he’s going to be eating up that much of your cap and he’s going to be at that point, once we get to the season, 21 months removed from the repair of his Achilles,” host Dan Labbe explained, highlighting the financial burden Watson represents.
While Andrew Berry confirmed Watson will be on the 2026 roster, his role remains undefined. Will he compete for the starting job? Serve as an expensive mentor? Or could the Browns eventually consider cutting ties completely?
According to Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot, Watson’s future depends largely on the team’s plans for Shedeur Sanders and whoever they hire as head coach.
“I think it’s just going to be determined by is it going to be Shedeur Sanders? And if Shedeur is going to be the quarterback next season, it seems to me that they would just keep going with him. I don’t think they would sit him down on the bench for a while and then let Deshaun go out there and play. That doesn’t seem like it would make sense,” Cabot reasoned.
However, Cabot also presented another intriguing possibility: “I do think that there is a world in which Deshaun can be their bridge quarterback. Now, you’d be taking a risk. Nobody knows what he’s going to look like in the heat of the moment out there on the football field after being out of it for so long. But the Browns have liked what they’ve seen inside the field house.”
This creates a fascinating dynamic where Watson might serve primarily as a mentor or insurance policy rather than a starter. Surprisingly, this mentorship role has already provided value according to Cabot.
“(Browns quarterbacks coach) Bill Musgrave said a few times this season that he doesn’t know where they would have been without Deshaun Watson. He’s really good at helping these young guys assimilate the game plans and figure out how to run this offense and understand what defenses are doing to them and whatnot,” she revealed.
Labbe raised the possibility of taking an extreme approach: “At some point, should they consider just cutting (him), just eating as much money as they have to? Almost like the Broncos did with Russell Wilson.”
The dynamics will also shift depending on who the Browns hire as head coach. A powerful figure like John Harbaugh would have significant input on the quarterback decision, while a younger coach might be more inclined to follow the front office’s preference.
“It also is going to depend on how powerful of a head coach you hire. If you hire a John Harbaugh, he is certainly going to have every bit of say in who his quarterback is going to be. He’s not just going to have input. He’s going to make that decision 100%,” Cabot noted.
One certainty remains — carrying an $80 million cap hit for a backup quarterback would be unprecedented in NFL history. Whether as a bridge quarterback, mentor or eventual cap casualty, the Watson situation represents one of the most complicated roster decisions any NFL team has faced in the salary cap era.
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