Browns Trade Pitch Would Replace Watson With $160 Million Star

Replacing Deshaun Watson is something every Cleveland Browns fan has dreamed about in recent years. Watson has been a bust, to say the least, and many fans are more than done with the experiment.

Sadly, it isn’t as easy as just shipping him off somewhere. Watson has a $72.9 million cap hit for the 2025 season, something the Browns can’t get out of.

However, if they could get creative and save money elsewhere, there would be at least a way to replace him in the form of Matthew Stafford.

In a trade pitch from Candace Pedraza of DawgPoundDaily, the Browns would land Stafford for a 2026 first-round pick, Wyatt Teller, and MJ Emerson.

“In this scenario, the Rams would be receiving two lesser-needed positional players with the Browns as well as their premium first round pick. This is another cap saving move for Cleveland, as Teller can be replaced by Zak Zinter in 2025 and as Emerson is a potential candidate to be cut if Cleveland were to use their No. 2 overall pick to take Travis Hunter. Why not add him to a deal, then, for a Day 1 starter at QB?…

The Cleveland Browns understand that if they want to win in the near future, they need a better quarterback. Stafford would be that, but he’s 37 years old, and for a team that isn’t just a quarterback away from winning a Super Bowl, it’d be questionable to land him unless they could do more.

However, according to Albert Breer, the Browns have shown interest in making a deal.

“The teams you’d suspect would have their hat in the ring have, indeed, thrown their hats in the ring. The New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders and others have shown interest,” Breer wrote.

What Would His Value Be?

If Stafford were on a contending team, said organization could win a Super Bowl. Unless the Cleveland Browns do more, they’re probably not that close.

But for Stafford, his value is questionable. On one hand, he’s worth a first-round pick, but only for a team that could win it all.

According to Breer, that’s where things could get challenging for all involved.

“What’s hard to know now, though, is what the Rams would be willing to take to part with Stafford,” Breer wrote. If it’s a first-round pick, would the aforementioned teams still be willing to do a deal at more than $50 million per year?

“And if that first-round pick is in the top 10, as is the case with three of the aforementioned four teams, would the Rams be willing to take a 2026 pick instead of one this year? And if not, how in the world do the Rams fix this with Stafford?”