“They Have an Insurance Policy”: Mike Florio Outlines Two Reasons the Browns Don’t Want Deshaun Watson to Play This Season

As the 2025-2026 season approaches, the Cleveland Browns will likely be without their starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson. Watson underwent surgery on January 9 after he re-ruptured his right Achilles tendon, potentially keeping him sidelined for the entire season.

If Watson were to miss the entire 2025-2026 season, he would have only played in 19 total games over four seasons with the Browns after being acquired by the team in 2022. Watson has been hit with the injury bug in recent years, suffering two Achilles tears, a shoulder scapular fracture, and a rotator cuff tear all within the last two years. 

ProFootballTalk senior analyst Mike Florio isn’t so sure Watson will ever play a snap again with the Browns. 

“He sure as hell wants to (play),” Florio said. “They’d love for him not to play; they have an insurance policy if he’s unable to play because of his twice-torn Achilles tendon. They get back a lot of cash, they recover a lot of space, and they really don’t need him. They’ve got four quarterbacks.”

While Florio isn’t so sure that Watson will suit up for the Browns again, he thinks that he could still play in the NFL elsewhere, with a different role. 

“I tend to think he will be somewhere, somehow,” Florio answered. “But it’s most likely going to be with a different team, probably somewhere as a backup, who ends up in a game at some point and has a chance to prove that he’s still got some of that magic that made him the guy that looked like he could have been MVP.”

Watson has two years left remaining on his five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract. He’s due $46 million in each of the next two seasons, but as Florio mentioned, the Browns could save some money with the insurance policy if Watson can’t play this season. 

Watson could be let go by the team at any point. Even in his appearances with the Browns, he had not lived up to his contract, leading to the Browns adding many quarterbacks this offseason. 

Watson will likely play elsewhere soon, but anything could happen with his situation.