The Cleveland Browns traded for DeShaun Watson during the 2022 off-season. The team gave up a massive amount of draft capital as well as committed a fully guaranteed contract the then 26-year-old.
However, the trade has gone down as possibly one of the worst in NFL History as Watson has been suspended, suffered numerous injuries, and has been a shell of his former self when he was on the field.
After the Browns’ owner seemingly took a shot at him, Watson took to social media.
Deshaun Watson Takes To Social Media After Owner Throws Him Under The Bus
Despite the team’s best efforts, the move failed to impress the Browns’ ownership. At Tuesday’s NFL owners meetings, team owner Jimmy Haslam used the phrase “swing and miss.”
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Haslam said.
“We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. [It] was an entire organization decision, and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable.”
Cleveland is making noise, and Watson hears it:
Roughly 24 hours after Haslam lambasted the team’s quarterback as a “swing and miss” by the front office, the quarterback took to Instagram and posted multiple pictures of himself working out as he recovers from two Achilles injuries.
“Maybe, if I weren’t built for this, I’d let it phase me,” Watson said Tuesday in an Instagram post.
Watson’s career hit a brick wall when he was traded to Cleveland:
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | Pos | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | 1D | Lng | Sk | Yds | 4QC | GWD | AV | Awards | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 22 | HOU | NFL | QB | 7 | 6 | 3-3-0 | 126 | 204 | 61.8 | 1699 | 19 | 9.3 | 8 | 3.9 | 85 | 46.6 | 72 | 8.3 | 8.43 | 13.5 | 242.7 | 103.0 | 83.7 | 19 | 116 | 8.52 | 7.10 | 7.19 | 0 | 0 | 7 | AP ORoY-3 |
| 2018 | 23 | HOU | NFL | QB | 16 | 16 | 11-5-0 | 345 | 505 | 68.3 | 4165 | 26 | 5.1 | 9 | 1.8 | 202 | 46.4 | 73 | 8.2 | 8.48 | 12.1 | 260.3 | 103.1 | 61.8 | 62 | 384 | 10.93 | 6.67 | 6.87 | 5 | 5 | 16 | PB |
| 2019 | 24 | HOU | NFL | QB | 15 | 15 | 10-5-0 | 333 | 495 | 67.3 | 3852 | 26 | 5.3 | 12 | 2.4 | 191 | 49.4 | 54 | 7.8 | 7.74 | 11.6 | 256.8 | 98.0 | 70.5 | 44 | 257 | 8.16 | 6.67 | 6.63 | 3 | 5 | 16 | PB |
| 2020 | 25 | HOU | NFL | QB | 16 | 16 | 4-12-0 | 382 | 544 | 70.2 | 4823 | 33 | 6.1 | 7 | 1.3 | 221 | 54.5 | 77 | 8.9 | 9.50 | 12.6 | 301.4 | 112.4 | 63.7 | 49 | 293 | 8.26 | 7.64 | 8.22 | 0 | 0 | 16 | PB |
| 2022 | 27 | CLE | NFL | QB | 6 | 6 | 3-3-0 | 99 | 170 | 58.2 | 1102 | 7 | 4.1 | 5 | 2.9 | 53 | 41.6 | 46 | 6.5 | 5.98 | 11.1 | 183.7 | 79.1 | 40.4 | 20 | 106 | 10.53 | 5.24 | 4.79 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 28 | CLE | NFL | QB | 6 | 6 | 5-1-0 | 105 | 171 | 61.4 | 1115 | 7 | 4.1 | 4 | 2.3 | 52 | 38.3 | 59 | 6.5 | 6.29 | 10.6 | 185.8 | 84.3 | 42.9 | 17 | 85 | 9.04 | 5.48 | 5.27 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2024 | 29 | CLE | NFL | QB | 7 | 7 | 1-6-0 | 137 | 216 | 63.4 | 1148 | 5 | 2.3 | 3 | 1.4 | 49 | 33.3 | 35 | 5.3 | 5.15 | 8.4 | 164.0 | 79.0 | 23.4 | 33 | 191 | 13.25 | 3.84 | 3.70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 Yrs | 73 | 72 | 37-35-0 | 1527 | 2305 | 66.2 | 17904 | 123 | 5.3 | 48 | 2.1 | 853 | 46.7 | 77 | 7.8 | 7.90 | 11.7 | 245.3 | 98.8 | 244 | 1432 | 9.57 | 6.46 | 6.58 | 9 | 11 | 63 | ||||||
| 17 Game Avg | 17 | 17 | 37-35-0 | 356 | 537 | 66.2 | 4169 | 29 | 5.3 | 11 | 2.1 | 199 | 46.7 | 77 | 7.8 | 7.90 | 11.7 | 245.3 | 98.8 | 57 | 333 | 9.57 | 6.46 | 6.58 | 2 | 3 | 15 | ||||||
| HOU (4 Yrs) | 54 | 53 | 28-25-0 | 1186 | 1748 | 67.8 | 14539 | 104 | 5.9 | 36 | 2.1 | 699 | 49.7 | 77 | 8.3 | 8.58 | 12.3 | 269.2 | 104.5 | 174 | 1050 | 9.05 | 7.02 | 7.26 | 8 | 10 | 55 | ||||||
| CLE (3 Yrs) | 19 | 19 | 9-10-0 | 341 | 557 | 61.2 | 3365 | 19 | 3.4 | 12 | 2.2 | 154 | 37.3 | 59 | 6.0 | 5.75 | 9.9 | 177.1 | 80.7 | 70 | 382 | 11.16 | 4.76 | 4.50 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||||||
