Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is now out for the season with a shoulder injury, meaning he’s now played 12 of a possible 34 games for the franchise since signing a massive contract extension with the team in the 2022 offseason. With over $90 million paid out for these 12 games and another $135-plus-million left on his fully guaranteed pact, Watson’s deal is starting to look like the worst contract in NFL history.
The Browns traded three first-round picks and six total selections in March 2022 to the Houston Texans for Watson. The QB, who would end up serving an 11-game personal conduct suspension to start his first season in Cleveland, had a no-trade clause, which he only waived after the Browns gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract extension, the first of its kind in the NFL.
In addition to missing games, Watson’s play and stats haven’t been good either since he came to Cleveland. His record as a starter for the Browns is a solid 8-4, but he has a terrible 59.8% completion rate with 2,217 yards, 14 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
Is the Deshaun Watson contract the worst ever?
Between the guaranteed money, the lack of time on the field, the average (at best) stats, and the massive amount of cap room his deal takes up, ESPN senior NFL reporter Dan Graziano concludes that “unless Watson leads them to a Super Bowl title in one of the final three years of the deal, this has a good chance to go down as the worst trade and/or the worst signing in NFL history.”
There have been plenty of players who’ve signed big deals and performed worse than Watson. However, the fully guaranteed nature and massive number attached to the Deshaun Watson contract — which leaves the Browns no true option to get out of it until it ends — makes this agreement a strong contender for the worst contract in NFL history.
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