The Browns are sitting at 2-1, and the biggest reason is the same name nobody expected to be driving this kind of conversation: Deshaun Watson.
After four Cleveland seasons defined by injuries, poor play, and disappointment, Watson was such an unlikely Week 1 starter that simply taking the first snap felt surprising. The bar was low. He has cleared it so far.
Watson hasn’t turned into a finished product, but he has looked like a quarterback the Browns can actually win with. He’s stayed on the field longer than many expected, stayed away from the costly errors that can sink games, and delivered in the biggest moments when the Browns needed a play. If that continues, Cleveland will keep him in the lineup and keep stacking wins.
That’s the part the Browns would welcome without hesitation. A winning season and a real playoff chase would be a huge step, especially if it all comes with one quarterback under center. But that kind of stability could create a strange problem once the offseason rolls around.
If Watson keeps this up, Cleveland could walk into the 2027 offseason with an awkward question waiting at the center of everything: what now?
Watson is in the final year of his contract, and another deal would be a stunning move. Even if he plays well the rest of the way, it’s hard to picture the Browns ignoring the first four years of the Watson era and choosing to recommit based on one strong season.
The numbers behind that era are brutal. From 2022 through 2025, Watson appeared in only 19 games because of a suspension and multiple major injuries.
In those games, he wasn’t effective, and Cleveland went 9-10. All of it came while he was attached to a five-year, fully-guaranteed $230 million contract that many analysts have labeled the worst in sports history.
So the Browns would be taking a serious gamble if they doubled down again after finally getting one solid stretch from Watson. But if they don’t, the alternatives are messy too.
The 2027 draft is one path, but a winning season could leave Cleveland too far down the board to land one of the top quarterback prospects. Even with the Los Angeles Rams’ 2027 first-round pick in hand, there’s no guarantee the Browns would be able to trade up.
Another possibility is Shedeur Sanders. Cleveland has spoken highly of Sanders and has made it clear it does not want to move him this season, but there’s still uncertainty about whether the team views him as the long-term answer at quarterback. Turning the job over to him could work, but would the Browns really be ready to do that without seeing him in a regular-season game in his second season?
There’s also the veteran route, though that usually doesn’t bring lasting answers.
For now, it’s still early. Three weeks is a small sample, and the entire picture remains unsettled. But if the Browns keep looking the way they did in Weeks 2 and 3, they may end up with an offseason decision that’s a lot harder than anyone expected when the year began.
In Other News...
Pat Freiermuth Just Reopened An Ugly Browns Fan Reputation
Pat Freiermuth brought an old scar back into view this week when he revisited a rookie-season memory that stuck with him far beyond the final whistle. Ahead of the Steelers upcoming game against the Browns, the tight end described the scene around his game-winning touchdown in Cleveland, a moment that should have been about the play itself but instead turned into something far uglier in the stands.
Freiermuth said his mother was the one caught in the middle of it, and the memory has been enough to change her routine when the Steelers head to Cleveland. Even so, he made clear there are no lingering hard feelings, just a reminder of how quickly a night in the AFC North can turn personal and why certain road games still carry an edge no scoreboard can erase. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Keep Winning But One Problem Is Starting To Look Dangerous
The Browns have done enough through three games to sit at 2-1, but the way they have gotten there has left a growing concern hanging over an otherwise encouraging start. Cleveland has been flagged 34 times already, the second-highest total in the NFL, and the issue has become hard to ignore even as head coach Todd Monken and his staff continue to stress the need to clean it up.
The bigger worry is that the problem has not settled down, even with key players drawing repeated flags, including right tackle Tytus Howard. The Browns have been able to survive it by winning tight games and leaning on late scoring drives from Deshaun Watson, but the margin for error shrinks quickly when a team keeps putting itself behind the chains and giving away yards it cannot afford to lose. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Rookie Is Pushing Veterans In A Troubling Position Battle
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren arrived in Cleveland as a second-round pick with the usual rookie expectations, but his first three weeks have started to look more like a challenge to the veterans in front of him than a slow apprenticeship. His defensive snaps have been limited so far, yet when he has been on the field, he has made the most of it and drawn strong grades from PFF relative to other Browns defenders.
That kind of early efficiency can change a depth chart quickly, especially for a team trying to sort out its safety mix and steady itself against the run. Cleveland has reason to consider expanding McNeil-Warrens role if the current personnel at the position keeps leaving openings, and the next stretch could show whether the rookie is merely earning more trust or forcing a tougher conversation about who should be playing more. [Read more 🡒]