Back in May, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was more than forthcoming in accepting the “lousy job” the management has done so far. The biggest one of them all, of course, was the five-year, $230 million “swing-and-miss” deal to Deshaun Watson. While the Haslams may be ready to move on from the mistakes, their biggest one seemingly doesn’t wish to.

In a recent press conference, Watson confessed his love for Cleveland and how he would be open to another offer if the team chooses to extend one. Now, while NFL analyst Warren Sharp has already given his vote of confidence — or the lack thereof — to the Browns, he has also dropped a pointed opinion on Watson’s wish.

“Thinking Cleveland would give another cent after getting nothing literally from $230,000,000 is pure narcissism,” NFL analyst Warren Sharp wrote on X.

Entering this season, GM Andrew Berry had done some fine work establishing a high-potential offensive line that the team lacked in 2025. Yet, last month, when Sharp released his 2026 ranking of the NFL’s offensive lines, he left the Browns at the very bottom of the list.

Now, while the younger faces under the new offensive line coach, George Warhop, may give some hope, Sharp’s criticism also remains not only with the OL but with the one under the center. But Watson remains affirmative that if he were to get an offer from the Browns to stay, he would not walk away.

“Oh, for sure,” Watson said earlier this week on whether he would be open to signing a new contract with the Browns. “When I first got here, it was just there’s a lot of stuff going on. But I don’t have any bad feelings towards Cleveland. I love Cleveland.

“I don’t know why the narrative is out there that I don’t like Cleveland. We have enjoyed our time here, and if the opportunity shows up, we’ll see where it goes.”

Watson is entering his contract year with the Browns in 2026, and is supposedly going to be their primary signal-caller. If the real Watson can return Week-1 onwards, maybe he can revive his NFL career and continue in Cleveland. However, given the history, his tenure has never matched the stakes he entered Berea with.

Deshaun Watson continues to struggle with the Browns

When entering Cleveland in 2022, Watson was supposed to make the team serious contenders for the Super Bowl. Instead, he has played only 19 games for Cleveland after being traded by the Houston Texans:

• He played only six games in 2022 due to a suspension,
• He played only six in 2023 due to a shoulder injury,
• He tore his Achilles tendon in 2024,
• He tore the same Achilles tendon during the 2025 offseason.

Last year, team owner Jimmy Haslam rightly called Watson “a big swing and a miss.”

“We thought we had the quarterback; we didn’t, and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. So hold us accountable.”

This is Watson’s last chance at extending his NFL career. Backed by experience, he performed well in the OTAs, giving year two quarterback Shedeur Sanders a tough fight for the starting job. However, midway through the offseason, his position stands threatened.

Watson’s performance in training camp is raising red flags. He opened training camp as part of the Brown’s first-team offense, but it was a tough start. He threw interceptions on back-to-back plays to Denzel Ward and Damarri Mathis, per Cleveland.com’s Dan Labbe. After minicamp, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot had flagged an issue with his throwing arm, claiming that it had “tailed off.”

Reportedly, he threw six interceptions in four training camp practices. A notable contrast to Watson is the second-year quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, who has only been picked once throughout the training camp practices.

“It’s hard to put too much stock into practice stats, but if there’s one thing coaching staffs won’t tolerate from the quarterback position it’s turnovers,” Football Outsiders’ Rivers McCown wrote.

According to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, Watson “struggled to string completions together and too often threw high floaters on routes outside the numbers.”

It all depends on whether Deshaun Watson can: one, stay healthy and two, put forward a solid performance this year. Only then can we hope to see the quarterback around in Berea’s future.