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The Cleveland Browns are likely to stick with Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback for the 2025 NFL season, despite being considered one of the worst trades in the history of American Football.
The Browns have mortgaged themselves to a $240m five-year contract with the 29-year-old back in 2022 after the Houston Texans got rid of him following multiple claims of sexual harassment and assault against massage therapists.
And during his time in Ohio, he missed 11 games through suspension in 2022, broke a bone in his shoulder in 2023 and tore his Achilles in 2024 meaning that he's played a total of 19 games through three seasons.
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If he maintains that pace, then by the time his contract with the organization is done, he will have earned 7.1 million dollars per game played before looking at his statistics, that also paint another miserable picture.
He has averaged a 61% completion rate for just 19 touchdowns and has allowed 12 interceptions whilst being sacked 70 times, which are subpar for a typical back-up quarterback, let alone someone expected to lead the line.
Regardless, he is expected to stay with the team for 2025 as are head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry. That's despite the Browns running a 3-10 record, which was 1-6 at the time of Watson's injury.
The reality is that the organization is forced to stick with him because cutting him would cause a 172 million-dollar dead cap hit for 2025, whilst he is still expected to take home a further 92 million dollars in guaranteed salary.
Watson accused of sexual assault again
Watson, who has been accused of 24 civil lawsuits of sexual harassment and assault before the matter was dropped on insufficient evidence, is currently dealing with one outstanding case filed in September 2024.
A document filed in Houston accuses the quarterback of sexual assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, with the plaintiff alleging he stripped off in her apartment without consent and asked her to massage his buttocks.
Describing herself as terrified after an earlier angry outburst from the football player, she claims he then revealed he was erect and asked her to massage her groin before he then grabbed her, put her in a position so she was lying down and penetrated her vagina.
The assault is said to have gone on for minutes in multiple different positions, before she managed to run and arm herself and tell him to leave, before Watson then left the apartment in a rage.
The woman sought over a million dollars in damages for the October 2020 incident, which Watson denied. The NFL conducted its own investigation and on December 7 ruled no formal action on the grounds of insufficient evidence."