The Cleveland Browns can’t move on from Deshaun Watson inside of the next two years when it comes to the balance sheet, though the franchise may well have already moved beyond him on the field.
General manager Andrew Berry spoke differently about Watson following the quarterback’s second consecutive season-ending injury earlier this month than any member of the front office or coaching staff has at any point during Watson’s tenure in Cleveland.
The line had always been, to paraphrase, that Watson is the guy. Instead, Berry said that it’s “always possible” Watson may take another snap over the final two years of his Browns contract in 2025 and 2026, when the team will eat two salary cap hits of $73 million that it has no recourse to escape.
So what’s the move? The Browns can draft a QB, and they are likely to pick somewhere in (or very near) the top five next April. But the options are more limited than they have been in most years and paying a rookie signal caller selected in that range is still liable to run Cleveland around $10 million in annual average salary.
Another option is to make a value bet on a quarterback early in the second or third round and seek a veteran to serve as a bridge to that player across the 2025 campaign.
The situation between the New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers might allow the Browns to trade for the four-time MVP and secure him at considerably better value than spending a top-end draft pick in 2025 plus paying that player a $35-$40 million contract over the next four years — for example, Shedeur Sanders of Colorado (whose father and head coach Deion Sanders may block his path to Cleveland regardless) or Heisman Trophy candidate Cam Ward of Miami.
Aaron Rodgers Probably Wouldn’t Cost Browns Much to Acquire in Trade With Jets
Rodgers is potentially going to be available to multiple teams next offseason, and his trade cost should be minimal if he does hit the market.
Jets owner Woody Johnson pitched his coaches on benching Rodgers for Tyrod Taylor earlier this season due to the veteran QB’s poor play through the first month. Rodgers turns 41 years old in early December, and if ownership already doesn’t believe in him, that does not bode well for Rodgers returning to New York to play out the final year of his contract in 2025.
“The Jets will have to eat a ton of dead signing bonus money if [Rodgers] isn’t their quarterback next year,” Will Ragatz of ON SI wrote Nov. 19, “but that’s not going to stop them from cutting or trading him and moving into a rebuild.”
Rodgers’ base salary in 2025 is just $2.5 million, roughly four-times less than the annual average cost of a QB taken at (or near) No. 1 in the draft would run the Browns. Rodgers may command interest from multiple teams, in which case Cleveland might have to bid for him. However, even in that scenario, the quarterback isn’t likely to cost the Browns more than a Day 3 draft pick to acquire heading into his age 42-season and coming off of a flop year in New York.
Aaron Rodgers Can Help Browns Close Book on Deshaun Watson in Cleveland
Rodgers doesn’t automatically change the Browns’ fortunes if he lands in Cleveland, but it’s easy to forget that the franchise was the AFC’s top wildcard team just one year ago.
A few improvements to the offensive line and the addition of a skill-position player or two could put the Browns back into the playoff mix if the defense can stay healthy and take a step back toward its 2023 form, when the unit was the top-ranked in the league.
Rodgers is certainly an upgrade over Watson, who can’t stay on the field and who was bad pretty much all the time anyways when he was healthy over the past three seasons. Jameis Winston has had some bright spots, though he — like second-year signal caller Dorian Thompson-Robinson — has shown clearly that he is not a long-term answer.
And while Rodgers isn’t a multiyear solution either, he’s a better bridge option than anyone currently in Cleveland’s QB room. He can help pave the way to a new quarterback in 2026, whether the Browns draft that player at some point in 2025 or wait and try to do so the following year.
Rodgers also affords Cleveland a better chance to pull itself out of the cellar next season than anyone on the roster, and could help the Browns close the chapter on Watson for good by getting off to even a reasonable start with the team.
