The Cleveland Browns have been one of the teams most actively pursuing a trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Unfortunately, the Browns sustained a major blow in their chase for the controversial quarterback. According to Mike Garafolo, the Browns were informed by Watson's camp on Thursday that they are no longer in the running to land the 26-year-old.

With the news that Cleveland is out on Watson, the team is set to commit to Baker Mayfield as its quarterback of the future. Mayfield is entering the final season of his rookie contract and is due to make $18.86 million in 2022, after which he's set to hit free agency.

After the Browns were eliminated from contention for Watson, the two remaining landing spots are reportedly the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints, both of whom have been making cost-cutting moves in order to clear up space to potentially absorb Watson's contract.

The Browns had begun the process of making similar moves, offloading Mack Wilson via trade and releasing Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper. Unfortunately, the money they freed up with those transactions won't go towards acquiring Watson.

Mayfield released some cryptic messages on social media yesterday, seemingly signaling the end of his tenure with the Browns, but after the latest blow in their pursuit of Watson, they seem more likely to roll with Mayfield next season. Garafolo reports that the Browns were open with Mayfield's camp about their offseason plans, saying they'd only explore moves for “top-tier QBs such as Watson.”