Latest QB fiasco proves just how incompetent Browns front office really is

On top of the exorbitant amount of money Watson has cost the team ($230M guaranteed through 2026), he also is the reason why they won’t be drafting in the first round until 2025. Cleveland sent a huge draft haul — including three first-round picks — to Houston for the polarizing QB, who was accused of sexual misconduct toward several female massage therapists and also had 22 civil lawsuits pending.

Cleveland can’t get out of Watson’s contract without crippling itself financially until the final year of his deal in 2026. If the Browns were to cut Watson at the end of the 2023 season, it would cost them $136.9M (53% of their projected 2024 salary cap), per Over the Cap.

It would cost the Browns $72.9M if they cut him in 2025 (nearly 30% of their salary cap) but just $8.98M if they did so in 2026, though they would still eat north of $72M in dead cap.

Things wouldn’t look as bleak if Cleveland had a competent backup in place, like say, Joshua Dobbs, who the Browns traded to the Arizona Cardinals in August for a 2024 fifth-round pick.

Dobbs threw for 1,569 yards, ran for 258 yards and accounted for 11 touchdowns in Arizona before being shipped to the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the Oct. 31 trade deadline. 

In two games with the Vikings (both wins), Dobbs has accounted for 536 yards and five touchdowns — the kind of performance that would come in handy now for a 6-3 Browns team that occupies the No. 6 seed in the AFC. 

Cleveland tabbed rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson as its Week 11 starter against the Steelers. In his lone start, a 28-3 loss to Baltimore in Week 4, he was sacked four times and completed 52.8% of his passes for 121 yards and three interceptions.

With a new starting QB, Cleveland must play five teams in its eight remaining games that are fighting for a playoff spot (Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Houston, the New York Jets and Cincinnati).

We're sorry, Cleveland.