The Browns have a crowded linebacker room, and that kind of depth always comes with a catch: somebody good is probably going to get squeezed out.
That’s where Nathaniel Watson enters the picture. Matt Fitzgerald of Stripe Hype, FanSided’s Bengals site, has Watson on his radar as a possible fit for Cincinnati, and it’s not hard to see why. Cleveland has added more bodies at linebacker, and the numbers game could get tight fast.
"Watson played only 55 snaps on defense as a rookie, per PFF, and was mostly tasked with special teams duties. He made 14 total tackles and looked like he might have room to climb the depth chart.
However, the Browns drafted Carson Schwesinger in the second round, and he was just the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Cleveland also signed Quincy Williams in free agency this offseason, and selected Justin Jefferson (not the receiver) in the fifth round of the latest draft.
It's anyone's guess as to who the Browns will keep amongst the trio of Watson, Winston Reid, and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold."
Fitzgerald’s bigger point is that Cincinnati could use help in that same spot. He wrote that Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. have not lived up to the hype so far, and he also flagged the depth behind them as a problem.
"If Carter or Knight don't make a massive Year 2 leap, they'll be massive liabilities no matter how good the new-look defensive front is with Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe, and Jonathan Allen," Fitzgerald wrote. "Not that I'm writing off Knight or Carter, but the depth behind them is suspect to put it kindly. The fact that Oren Burks couldn't start over either of them is oh so alarming."
If the Bengals are serious about patching up their linebacker room, Watson makes sense as a name to watch. A trade would be one possible path, though that would hardly be the Browns’ favorite outcome with a division rival involved. Still, if Cleveland decides Watson is the odd man out, getting something back for him would be better than losing him for nothing.
None of this means Watson is gone. The Browns clearly value him after taking him in the sixth round two years ago, and even though he missed all of last season because of injury, his familiarity with the defense gives him real value in Cleveland.
He’ll have the summer to make his case. If he doesn’t, another team could be waiting.
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