The Browns are expected to go with Deshaun Watson again in Week 2, with head coach Todd Monken saying he anticipates the quarterback will start against the Buccaneers.
Monken pointed to Watson’s work during the week and said he believes the quarterback will keep trending up. He also made it clear the responsibility doesn’t stop with Watson.
“I liked his week of practice last week and I think he’s only gonna continue to get better,” Monken said, via Zac Jackson. “We gotta play better around him. We gotta call it better and he’s gotta play better.”
Watson, 30, entered the NFL as a first-round pick by the Texans in 2017 out of Clemson. His rookie contract in Houston was a four-year, $13.854 million deal that came with a fifth-year option worth about $17.3 million for the 2021 season.
Houston later gave Watson a four-year extension worth as much as $177 million heading into the 2020 season, a deal that paid him $39 million per year. After that season, Watson asked for a trade, then missed the entire 2021 season while dealing with more than two dozen sexual misconduct lawsuits. He was later suspended for 11 games.
The Browns acquired Watson in 2022 in a trade that cost them significant draft compensation, then handed him a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract. That agreement runs through 2026 and carries base salaries of $46 million in each of the final two seasons.
Watson played in seven games for Cleveland in 2024, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 1,148 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran 31 times for 148 yards and one touchdown.
In 2026, Watson has appeared in one game for the Browns and gone 16 of 22 for 205 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He has added six carries for 38 yards on the ground.
In Other News...
Texans Could Shake Up Their Week 2 Rotation After That Opener
After a Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Texans are already looking at possible tweaks for Sundays matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, and the early chatter centers on a few young players who barely got their feet wet in the opener. Wide receiver Jaylin Noel, tight end Jake Klein and safety Kamari Ramsey all played limited snaps, but each flashed enough to make the coaching staff consider a bigger role.
Houstons lineup flexibility could show up on defense in particular, where the staff may adjust based on Reed Blankenships performance. For a team trying to rebound quickly, those kinds of small rotation changes can matter, especially if the Texans want to find more production without waiting long for it to arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Suddenly Need A Familiar Linebacker To Steady This Defense
The Texans had to make a quick adjustment at linebacker after Henry To'oTo'o landed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury that is expected to keep him out for about two months. To help absorb the loss, Houston promoted Jamal Hill from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, giving the defense a familiar face as it tries to stay afloat through another stretch of roster turnover.
Hill is a converted safety now entering his fourth professional season, and most of his work with Houston has come on special teams. The move is less about a dramatic shift in role than it is about adding needed depth at a spot thinned out by To'oTo'o's absence, with the Texans now leaning on a player who already knows the system while the linebacker room waits for help to return. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Leave Week 1 With One Big Reason For Debate
The Texans walked out of Week 1 with a loss to Buffalo, but not without enough offensive production to keep the conversation lively heading into the week. C.J. Stroud put together a productive passing night, finishing 26 of 38 for 274 yards and two touchdowns, while the offense found the end zone enough times to suggest the pieces are there for a sharper showing once the dust settles.
Still, the game turned on the kind of mistakes that tend to linger. Strouds two costly fumbles loomed large in a 36-31 defeat, and Houstons defense had its own trouble keeping Josh Allen from taking control, as the Bills quarterback threw for 334 yards and four total touchdowns. For a team trying to make an early statement, the debate now is less about whether the Texans can score and more about how quickly they can clean up the errors that decided Sunday. [Read more 🡒]