The Cleveland Browns had so much faith in Deshaun Watson that they signed him to an eye-popping five-year, $230 million extension after they acquired him from the Houston Texans. At the time of the trade, Watson was in the middle of a serious legal controversy that involves over 20 lawsuits regarding allegations of sexual misconduct.

On August, the NFL ended up fining Watson a lump sum of $5 million, and to add insult to injury, they also suspended him for 11 games. Now, it appears as if the embattled quarterback is inching ever more closely to a return to the field.

According to Adam Schefter, Deshaun Watson is now eligible to practice with the rest of his teammates under the terms of his suspension, and perhaps he could even make his season debut less than a month from now when the Browns take on the Texans in Week 13. Nevertheless, according to an earlier report by Aaron Reiss of The Athletic, Watson's first practice with the team will be on the 16th.

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The 27-year old quarterback's ability on the field cannot be questioned. Since making his professional debut in 2017, he has proven to capable of helming an offense at a high level, leading the Texans to two division crowns in the 2018-19 and the 2019-20 seasons.

However, it's been quite a while since Watson last stepped foot on the field, as he missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season due to the allegations surrounding him, so it's quite unclear as to whether he's still the player he was before.

Nonetheless, the Browns didn't ink him to such a hefty extension for nothing. Browns general manager Andrew Berry said that Watson will be named the first-choice quarterback as soon as he's available for selection. Still, it's difficult to envision the controversy surrounding Watson's name going away anytime soon, especially given the nature of the wrongdoings he was being charged for.