Deshaun Watson chooses Cleveland Browns as trade destination in shocking turn

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has opted to force a trade to the…Cleveland Browns in a rather shocking turn of events.

The Browns were thought to be out of the Watson sweepstakes as recent as Thursday afternoon, as they went crawling back to Baker Mayfield after badmouthing him in the media.

Yet, Watson has changed his mind rather suddenly. With the Atlanta Falcons assuming they would land their next franchise quarterback — and scrambling to trade their current QB in Matt Ryan — Watson pulled a 180.

Watson wants to be a Cleveland Brown, if you can believe it.

What does this mean for Baker Mayfield?

Mayfield is surely on the outs in Cleveland, as he demanded a trade on Thursday. Initially, the Browns denied that request, but all of a sudden they don’t need the former No. 1 overall pick as their starting quarterback. Expect the QB carousel to continue once Watson is in Cleveland.

What went wrong with Deshaun Watson and the Falcons?

The Falcons were seen as a clear favorite for Watson as recently as a few hours ago. For that to fall through, there must have been surprising outside influences which swayed the soon-to-be former Texans QB to Cleveland instead.

The Falcons were willing to give Watson the keys to the city, but it wasn’t enough.

Deshaun Watson contract

Watson is expected to negotiate a restructured contract with whatever team he lands with, and the Browns will take him up on that. Watson’s current salary is for five years and $230 million.

The AFC North is suddenly loaded with quarterbacks — Watson, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson are an incredible trio, with the Steelers lagging behind thanks to their signing of Mitch Trubisky.