Deshaun Watson to the Browns

More crazy off-season moves! The Cleveland Browns have officially traded their 3 first-round draft picks, 2 third-round draft picks, and 1 fourth-round draft pick all in exchange for Quarterback Deshaun Watson and 1 sixth-round draft pick. Wow. Adding to this is that the Texans didn’t include Baker Mayfield in the trade, but that’s a story for another time. Apparently, the Texans are feeling pretty safe with Davis Mills as their quarterback for now. 

One of the strangest outcomes of this trade was that Watson ended up on the Browns. Before the trade, multiple teams, including the Panthers and the Falcons, had expressed interest in him. And the Browns went so far as to fly down to meet with Watson, which made it look like they may be getting ready to part ways with their current quarterback, Mayfield. But Watson told the Browns he wasn’t interested, and that was that – for about a week. 

Things shifted though when word got out that Watson had only been cleared of nine of the 22 charges he’d received. The Falcons and Panthers seemed to backtrack and lose interest, which perhaps made Watson and his agent panic, because the next thing anyone knew was Watson accepted the Browns’ offer. 

Meanwhile, the Browns, to cement their deal with Watson, offered him $230 million guaranteed, which means even if he does receive a long-term suspension, they will still have to pay him. Let’s repeat that: $230 million. 

No one can deny the Browns are taking a major risk with trading for Watson at the cost of $230 million in guaranteed money. What a gamble for a quarterback who could still face suspension, not to mention the allegations against him and, worse, convictions that he will carry with him–something the Browns seem to either be overlooking or just don’t care.