In a capitalist society, billionaires admitting their mistakes is about as rare as a unicorn sighting. But Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam bucked the trend by pulling off the impossible—he looked the media in the eye and admitted that signing Deshaun Watson was a “big swing and miss.”
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Not only did Haslam admit that spending big money on Watson was a mistake, but the Browns’ co-owner urged the media and fans to hold him and his wife accountable for the team’s current quarterback situation.
Wait… an NFL owner taking accountability? Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson couldn’t believe it either. In the latest edition of Nightcap, Unc and Ocho gave Haslam his flowers for keeping it real about his mistake of snatching Watson from the Texans and rewarding him with a $230 million, fully guaranteed deal.
“I love that,” Shannon said. “Yeah, I mean, you know Jimmy has made some mistakes… [mainly] when they signed Deshaun Watson, who had not even started on the contract extension that the Houston Texans had given him.”
Ocho immediately chimed in, saying it’s unheard of for an owner to come out and be this brutally honest. “When’s the last time you heard an owner come out and say something like this? Or a GM? I like it—at any point, ever in history?”
That said, what made Haslam’s statement so impactful for Sharpe was the fact that he made the shocking admission while still having Deshaun Watson on his roster. Hilariously, Unc saw the revelation as the equivalent of a man admitting he married the wrong woman without getting a divorce.
“Ocho, you know the man feeling some type of way,” Sharpe said. “He said this while Deshaun Watson is still on his team… I’ll give you a better example: I married the wrong woman while still being married. Not after you got a divorce.”
Ocho was understandably in stitches after that analogy, but the point was clear—it’s one thing to regret a decision, and it’s quite another to say it out loud while the guy is still on your roster. Watson’s contract is far from over, and Haslam is already treating him like a sunk cost.
As brutal as Haslam’s words were, it has to be admitted that the Browns’ issue with Watson goes beyond the money they paid for him—it’s about what Watson has (or hasn’t) done on the field.
Since signing the massive deal, Watson has appeared in just 19 games over three seasons with a 9-10 record, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Injuries have plagued his time in Cleveland, but even when he is healthy, Watson hasn’t looked anything like the superstar that the Browns expected.
Usually, when a team makes a disastrous move, the front office doubles down, spins it, and acts like everything is fine. But Haslam did not stick to the script. This is why Chad Johnson thought the Browns co-owner’s comments were “unprecedented.”
That said, the question now is, how do the Browns get out of this situation? For starters, they hold the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. So the logical decision would be to draft a quarterback, even if Haslam & Co. will have to continue bearing Watson’s salary on the books.
Haslam’s recent statement suggests that the Browns are considering drafting a QB. “It would be great if we could get the quarterback, but we’re not going to force it,” he told the media.
So who will wear the Cleveland Orange next season? Will it be Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward? We might not know the answer yet, but Browns fans would much rather know the solution to this question than what to do with Deshaun Watson.
