The Cleveland Browns were quick to address the situation at quarterback after a blowout road loss to the Washington Commanders that dropped the team to 1-4 on the season.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski pulled starter Deshaun Watson late on Sunday, October 6, in favor of backup QB Jameis Winston, but apparently only because the game was near its end and well out of hand by that point.
#Browns Kevin Stefanski “we’re not changing quarterbacks”
“We’re not changing quarterbacks,” Stefanski said following the 23-point loss, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “We need to play better. I need to coach better. And that’s really what it is.”
The Browns fell to the Commanders by a score of 34-13, as Watson went 15-of-28 for 125 yards and 1 TD.
Browns Wide Receiver Amari Cooper Backs Deshaun Watson
Wide receiver Amari Cooper also offered support for Watson following the game, saying that he doesn’t feel Watson is the primary issue and adding that the team could “play better for him.”
Drops have been an issue for Cooper this season, while fellow wideout Jerry Jeudy had a big drop of his own that cost the Browns a TD during the third quarter.
The offensive line has also been a nightmare in Cleveland all season long, plagued by both injury and poor play from the reserves. Watson entered the game Sunday as the most-sacked quarterback in the NFL (19 total), and the O-line allowed 7 more sacks of its QB that pushed Watson’s total to 26 sacks on the season.
That said, Watson has yet to crack 200 yards passing in a single game this year and has just 5 TDs against 3 INTs. He has also completed just 60.2% of his passes.
The combination of poor quarterback play, poor offensive line play and often subpar output from the offensive backfield with Nick Chubb still sidelined by last year’s knee injury has led to a per play yardage average that renders the Browns’ offense the worst through five games in the entire league over the past six years.
“At 3.8 yards per play through five games, the Browns have the worst offense that the NFL has seen to this point in the season since the 2018 Bills,” Zac Jackson, who covers the Browns for The Athletic, posted to X.
Browns Don’t Have Clear Future at Quarterback
The Browns are in an interesting position at 1-4 when it comes to the quarterback position. The season is not yet lost, though it’s arguably close, so there isn’t yet a reason to punt on the year and start selling off players for future draft assets.
As such, it makes sense for Cleveland to stay with the quarterback it believes gives them the best chance to win. At this point that’s Watson, as Stefanski made clear during his press conference Sunday.
However, at what point might the head coach lose his locker room if he keeps running out Watson and Cleveland keeps losing? That potentially argues for Winston to get a shot at some point in the next week or two if the struggles continue.
On the other hand, Watson is untradable on his $230 million contract, but not so for Winston on a one-year deal worth $4 million. Cleveland could probably get a Day 3 draft pick for Winston in trade with a QB-needy team, then lean on second-year player Dorian Thompson-Robinson if Stefanski decides to pull Watson.
Yanking Watson would also open a Pandora’s Box, as it would indicate that the Browns as an organization have finally accepted what all their critics have been saying for months (if not years) — that the trade and contract for Watson in 2022 is perhaps the worst decision any team has made in the history of the NFL.
That could have implications for the job security of both Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, which renders the benching of Watson a measure of absolute last resort.
