Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has already had one of the more unusual careers in modern NFL history.
After an acclaimed college career at Clemson, the Houston Texans drafted him 12th overall in 2017, two picks after the Kansas City Chiefs selected Patrick Mahomes. Unlike Mahomes, Watson played early in his rookie season. Almost immediately, he looked like a phenomenon.
That October, his first full month as a starter, Watson threw 16 touchdowns, setting the NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie in a calendar month. He was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month.
Watson was an MVP candidate in just his first season. Then, on Nov. 2, 2017, he tore his ACL on a non-contact play during practice, ending his season.
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He returned the following year and established himself as a solid franchise quarterback. By his fourth season as a starter, he had recaptured much of his rookie form. Despite the Texans winning just four games in 2020, Watson led the NFL in passing yards (4,823), completion percentage (70.2%), and passer rating (112.4).
By the end of that season, there was a growing perception that Watson had moved past Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson as the one true rival to Mahomes, who had already won one Super Bowl and appeared in another.
At the time, Watson said he envisioned himself and Mahomes as the “next Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.” He was not alone. Colin Cowherd, Michael Vick, Jason Whitlock, Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman, and ProFootballTalk also made the comparison.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson heads to the sideline during the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Then his career unraveled.
That offseason, 27 women filed civil lawsuits accusing Watson of sexual misconduct and assault during massage therapy appointments. The Texans sat him for the entire 2021 season.
The Browns traded for him the following year, sending Houston three first-round picks. Cleveland and Watson then agreed to an unprecedented five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract, the largest guaranteed deal in NFL history at the time.
Watson was suspended for six regular-season games to start the 2022 season by arbitrator Sue L. Robinson as a result of the sexual misconduct allegations.
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He made his Browns debut later that season and struggled. The struggles continued the following year, and injuries ensued.
From 2022 through 2025, Watson played in just 19 games. He suffered two Achilles ruptures in that span. Statistically, he was among the worst quarterbacks in the entire NFL.
In one of the more stunning public acknowledgments by an NFL owner, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam acknowledged that trading for Watson was a mistake that set the franchise back years.
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Jimmy Haslam told reporters in 2025. “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.”
Despite the admission, Watson remained on the roster.
Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns takes the field for warmups before a game against the Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 27, 2026. (Getty Images)
Ahead of this season, disdain for Watson’s play and character united nearly every corner of sports media. Between the scandal, the contract, the performance, and the attitude, Watson had become perhaps the most disliked athlete in American sports. Some outlets made that case.
Few athletes can put Jemele Hill and Clay Travis on the same side of an argument. Watson did.
The industry clamored for the Browns to start Shedeur Sanders before opening day. Browns fans agreed, even booing Watson as he walked onto the field during a preseason game.
Head coach Todd Monken received fierce backlash after he named Watson the starter. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said Browns fans should consider skipping home games in protest.
“I don’t think they can have Deshaun Watson on the team after that interaction,” Orlovsky said. “And, if they somehow come out today and name Deshaun Watson their starting quarterback, if I was a Browns fan, I wouldn’t go to the game. You cannot handle a press conference that way, given the circumstances of what has transpired after they gave you $230-plus, $250 million guaranteed, and the lack of performance and availability has shown itself.”
Betting markets posted odds before the season not on whether the Browns would bench Watson, but when.
Deshaun Watson, No. 4 of the Cleveland Browns, celebrates after a 21-18 win over the Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field on Sept. 27, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty Images)
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Through three weeks, Watson’s career is undergoing yet another strange shift in public perception. The Browns are 2-1, in a four-way tie in the AFC North. Watson has played well. More importantly, he has played well in the clutch in back-to-back weeks.
For comparison, his 104.1 passer rating is nearly identical to MVP frontrunner Josh Allen’s.
Suddenly, Watson has supporters again. He has fans. In one of the biggest early-season upsets, Browns fans chanted “Let’s go Watson” after he led the team to victory in the final minutes against Carolina. His general manager greeted him in the tunnel with a hug.
Just as the previous stage of Watson’s career united unlikely voices in opposition, his budding comeback has done the same in reverse. Get this: both Jason Whitlock and Stephen A. Smith praised Watson for his performance Sunday. Former coach Rex Ryan said Watson “looks like” he did in Houston for the first time since the scandal.
Watson may never be a sympathetic figure. The allegations against him suggest a pattern of poor conduct, even if some details are disputed.
At 31, coming off two Achilles tears, Watson is unlikely to fulfill the prediction that he would become the Peyton Manning to Mahomes’ Tom Brady.
But a month ago, his career looked as if it was nearing an end, as if the Browns wants him to prove one final time he was unplayable. That’s certainly how the media and fans interpreted his role this season.
He has since responded, finally making something of a second chance that all players would receive. Case in point: Justin Tucker, who faced similar allegations and has not returned since.
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Suddenly, Watson is no longer merely the scandal-stained, overpaid quarterback many believed should be relegated to backup duty. In a narrow football sense, he has become something far stranger: the quarterback booed by his own fans, belittled publicly by his owner, mocked by the press, and still standing.
It is early, and the skepticism is earned. Still, Watson is quietly crafting one of the most improbable comeback stories in sports.