During this week's mandatory minicamp, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski sounded optimistic quarterback Deshaun Watson will be as good as new this September coming off the serious shoulder injury that cost Watson over half of the 2023 season.
"Deshaun has been here every day," Stefanski said about Watson on Thursday, as shared by Zac Jackson of The Athletic. "He’s been getting better. I got to see him really through the course of his entire rehab — through the throwing sessions off to the side, through the throwing sessions to the players, now to seven-on-seven. So, I’ve seen this improvement from him, both in terms of how he’s feeling and also just hitting those mile markers of when he’s allowed to do what he’s doing. He’s right where he needs to be, and I’m pleased with how hard he’s worked."
The Browns replaced former offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Ken Dorsey this offseason. Dorsey spent portions of the spring installing an offense that reportedly features more shotgun snaps and is meant to maximize Watson's skill set. However, such plans won't mean much for the 2024 Browns if Watson misses more games than he plays for a fourth consecutive season.
Watson sat through the entire 2021 season, hoping to be traded by the Houston Texans. He then signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract to finalize his move to Cleveland in March 2022. Still, he spent the first 11 games of the subsequent campaign serving a suspension related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. Perhaps most worrisome regarding his long-term future with the Browns, he made just six starts this past season before he went down with his shoulder injury.
Then-backup quarterback Joe Flacco went 4-1 across five regular-season starts to guide the Browns to the playoffs with Watson sidelined. Flacco tossed a pair of pick-sixes in Cleveland's 45-14 wild-card postseason loss at the Texans. In March, the Browns chose Jameis Winston as their latest backup signal-caller over Flacco.
"I’ve said it before [that] I’ve gotten to see him throw throughout the course of this rehab," Stefanski said about Watson. "I don’t know [exactly] when it was, but a while back, he looked very normal to me. So that looked normal to me."
Individuals within the Browns aren't hiding that they're pursuing more than just a postseason berth heading into training camp. If Watson isn't better than just "very normal" from Week 1 through Week 18, the organization may consider moving on from his deal before the opening night of the 2025 NFL Draft.
