Kevin Stefanski has to be looking at Cleveland from a comfortable distance and feeling a whole lot better about where he landed.
The Falcons coach may not have an easy quarterback situation of his own, but it’s nothing like the mess the Browns are living through. Atlanta at least has two quarterbacks it can reasonably put on the field in Week 1. Cleveland, on the other hand, is sorting through what might be the ugliest QB battle in the league, with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders at the center of it.
That’s a brutal backdrop for Watson, because this is the same quarterback Cleveland brought in as a blockbuster trade addition while Stefanski was still running the team. The move helped define the Browns’ downfall under Stefanski, and now Watson’s latest struggles are making the former coach look wiser by the day.
Watson has been a disaster in camp. Through 12 summer practices, he has thrown nine interceptions, a number that says plenty all by itself.
He was picked off by Terron Herring on a deep throw to Blake Whiteheart during his first session, after trying to squeeze a pass to Whiteheart on a corner route in double coverage and leaving it inside. That was Watson’s ninth interception of camp.
For a player who was once a three-time Pro Bowler, the drop-off has been glaring. He hasn’t looked like a starting-caliber quarterback in a long time, and the evidence only keeps piling up. The source of the decline matters, too: Watson looks like a quarterback who has been through a twice-torn Achilles, and the idea that his body will return to what it was before the injuries feels like a fantasy.
That’s why the trade keeps standing out as such a colossal mistake. If someone called it the single biggest error in franchise history, there wouldn’t be much argument to make against that. And that’s saying something for a Browns organization that has already given fans plenty of material.
It also doesn’t help that Cleveland’s handling of the competition doesn’t exactly scream urgency. Todd Monken has been uneven in how he’s divided reps between Watson and Sanders, and Watson’s standing as QB1 remains one of the worst-kept secrets in football. That’s especially ugly considering Jimmy Haslam chose him over the coach who delivered Cleveland its first playoff win in 25 years.
The reason the Browns are still tied to Watson is simple: the money. He arrived with a fully guaranteed $230 million extension, and Cleveland is in the final year of that deal while still carrying a $41 million obligation.
Stefanski, as the story goes, wanted Baker Mayfield instead. The Watson move was forced on him by Browns GM Andrew Berry and owner Jimmy Haslam, and the fallout has only strengthened the case that he saw this coming from the start.
Now he’s in Atlanta, and whatever issues exist there, they don’t come close to the PR headache Cleveland is dragging around with Deshaun Watson.
In Other News...
Jake Matthews Just Gave Falcons Fans Another Reason To Respect Him
Jake Matthews has long been one of the steadier fixtures in Atlanta, the kind of left tackle the Falcons have been able to pencil in season after season without much worry. Since being drafted sixth overall in 2014, he has been a consistent starter, built the franchise record for consecutive games played, and carried the longest active streak of starts in the NFL at 195. He has also done his part off the field for the roster, restructuring his contract to help the Falcons create more room under the salary cap.
During training camp, though, Matthews revealed another layer to that durability: he spent the stretch run of last season dealing with a high-ankle sprain and still kept going. For a team that has leaned on him for years, it only deepened the respect around him, even as it raised the obvious question of how much longer Atlanta can expect that kind of ironman availability. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Rookies Are Suddenly Fighting For More Than Preseason Snaps
With preseason games on the horizon, the Falcons are getting a first real look at a rookie class that could matter right away once the games count. Branch, the third-round wide receiver who has turned heads, is among the young players expected to push for early-season work, while a second-round defensive back and an undrafted quarterback from Minnesota State-Moorhead are also in the mix as Atlanta sorts out who can help beyond camp.
For the coaching staff, these exhibitions are about more than just shaking off rust. They are a chance to test rookies against live competition, sort out roster battles and start piecing together who might earn real snaps, or even bigger roles, when the season opens. The Falcons have several young players competing for those opportunities, and the next few weeks should go a long way toward showing which ones are ready to turn a strong summer into something more permanent. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Penix Jr. Gets One Crucial Shot In Falcons QB Battle
The Falcons are giving Michael Penix Jr. a meaningful runway next week when they head into joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts, and head coach Kevin Stefanski said the rookie will be involved in 7-on-7 work. For a quarterback competition that has been watched closely all summer, those reps matter because they offer a cleaner look at Penix in a competitive setting, where timing, decision-making and command can be judged without the full chaos of a preseason game.
Penix has not taken the field in the preseason opener, while the other quarterback drew the start and the early work with the starters. That leaves the joint practices as one of the first real chances for Penix to show how far he has come and make his case in a battle that still feels very much in motion. [Read more 🡒]