NFL Insider Casts Doubt on Browns' Deshaun Watson's NFL Future: 'I Think He's Done'

At least one person in the NFL is out entirely on Cleveland Browns star Deshaun Watson.

In July, The Athletic's Mike Sando canvassed a group of 50 NFL coaches and executives to rank the league's quarterbacks. Watson came in at 11th and in the second tier, which is reserved for a QB who "can carry his team sometimes but not as consistently."

With 14 weeks in the books, Sando followed up to see where things stand, and one voter wasn't flattering toward the Browns' franchise cornerstone.

"Yeah, I think he's done," they said. "He has always been a guy who holds the ball. He has always pressured himself. They need to call the game with him like they need to call it without him: heavy screen game, heavy run game, 12 personnel, quarterback keepers."

In November, the Browns shut Watson down for the season for him to undergo shoulder surgery. Two years into his fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract, he has logged just 12 appearances and in those games looked little like the passer who made three straight Pro Bowls with the Houston Texans.

The 28-year-old has thrown for 2,217 yards, 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions since his trade to Cleveland. His 184.8 passing yards and 81.7 passer rating are well below his Houston equivalents (269.2; 104.5).

Some will feel the source Sando cited was being far too premature, but the examinations of Watson's long-term future have already begun.

It's less about whether he'll continue to be a member of the Browns because they have no real path to move on for the foreseeable future. Even if Cleveland were to cut him in 2026, the final year of the contract, it would mean putting either $73 million or $64 million in dead money on the books for that year.

The bigger question is what kind of player Watson will be when he returns. If he has permanently gone backward from his Texans peak, it will have serious consequences for the Browns.