After months of speculation and rumors, the final Deshaun Watson punishment was announced. After initially receiving a 6-game suspension, Watson's punishment was increased to an 11-game suspension following an appeal. Additionally, he was fined $5 million dollars. As a result, Jacoby Brissett is the expected replacement for the Cleveland Browns. Brissett commented on replacing Watson following the suspension news, per NFL Network's James Palmer.

“I don't take it lightly. I just want to go out there and continue to be the man that I am and the teammate that I am,” Brissett said.

There was no shortage of stirrings about a potential trade following the Deshaun Watson news. The Browns were immeditaely linked to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who would profile as a good replacement. But Cleveland seems content moving forward with Jacoby Brissett for now.

Brissett has been in the NFL since 2016. His best season came in 2019 with the Indianapolis Colts. He fired 18 touchdowns and tallied over 2,900 passing yards that season. Brissett also displayed dual-threat ability as evidenced by his 228 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns.

However, he hasn't played more than 11 games in a season since 2019. But he likely won't need to play more than that amount of games in 2022 given the length of Deshaun Watson's suspension. The Browns believe Brissett can keep them afloat amid Watson's absence through the first half of the 2022 campaign.

Brissett doesn't need to be perfect. Cleveland's strengths stem from their rushing attack and strong defense. The Browns are simply hoping he limits turnovers and makes a big play every once in a while. Anything more then that will be icing on the cake.