Deshaun Watson Achilles Injury: Shannon Sharpe Can Now Make Sense of the QB’s Call to Restructure His Guaranteed Contract

Deshaun Watson’s five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract signed in 2022, has become a disaster for the Cleveland Browns. They have restructured it multiple times to spread out the dead money and slowly pay off the burden. This had confused Shannon Sharpe, who questioned why a player would agree to such a restructure when the entire contract is guaranteed. However, Unc can now see why, after the QB suffered another Achilles injury that will sideline him for months.

On the latest episode of Nightcap, Sharpe presented a video for his co-host, Chad Johnson, to watch. It showed Deshaun “allegedly” (emphasis on allegedly) slow-dancing with his girlfriend 62 days after his Achilles surgery on October 25.

At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary in how the QB was dancing, dressed in normal attire. But Sharpe was perplexed why Watson wasn’t wearing a rehab-specific walking boot. He recalled that his former teammates used to wear them for over three months while rehabbing from an Achilles rupture.

“Ocho, what normally happens: I’ve had a lot of teammates that have ruptured their Achilles. They are normally in a boot for at least three months,” said Shannon.

Sharpe asserted that when someone is in a walking boot, it keeps the foot immobile and helps the tendon heal. He then went on to criticize Deshaun for being casual about his injury rehab.

“This is why, and Ocho, do you remember the conversation we had, and I’m like, ‘Why is he re-working his contract when he got guaranteed money?’ Now we know why,” said Sharpe.

Sharpe is possibly alleging that Watson could have re-ruptured his Achilles by not following the recovery protocols. He speculated that since the quarterback is about to miss the 2025 season, the restructuring of the contract became a necessity.

Deshaun also just played seven games in the 2024 season. The 2023 season was no different either. And Joe Flacco had led the team to the playoffs in that campaign.

Reacting to Sharpe’s take, Johnson wondered what the Browns would do next. With the draft approaching, perhaps they’ll go for a QB. Or, like the 2023 season, they might bring back Flacco, or maybe even Kirk Cousins. Only time will tell.