Browns are about to take a significant risk with Deshaun Watson
By John Buhler
Although Deshaun Watson still has a way to go to live up to the hype of his trade over from the Houston Texans, the Cleveland Browns should not be playing him in their preseason finale later this week. Cleveland will travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Seahawks. While Cleveland has a ton of quarterback depth, the offensive line has been in better shape with key players injured.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk pointed out that Jedrick Wills Jr. is working his way back from last year's season-ending knee injury. He also mentioned that right tackle Jack Conklin is working his way back from last year's injury, as well as backup left tackle James Hudson III dealing with an ankle injury and third-stringer Hakeem Adenji dealing with a knee injury of his own. But yes, let's so play Watson...
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski didn't rule out Watson playing in the preseason finale vs. Seattle.
“We’ll see. I mean, the plan is for Deshaun to play. Obviously, I take in all the information week-to-week, day-to-day, but that is the plan," Stefanski said.
I understand that Watson has not played very much in his two years with the team, but throwing him out there with a beat-up offensive line in a game that doesn't count feels way too careless for my tastes. Cleveland may have depth behind Watson in the form of Jameis Winston, Tyler Huntley and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but the Browns are paying Watson all of that money for a reason, right?
Cleveland should sell high on one of their many great backups, so long as Watson does not get hurt.
Cleveland Browns might play Deshaun Watson in final preseason game
Look. Every team approaches playing its starters in the preseason differently. Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs may be more open to playing their starters than others, while others like the Los Angeles Rams tend to shy away from doing it at all. You need to find the right mix for your team. If this is something that Stefanski and Watson are on board with, then we may have to accept this happening.
Overall, the Browns are coming off a playoff berth a season ago, despite having a multitude of starting quarterbacks. Watson started some and Thompson-Robinson started a few, but it was mostly the ageless Joe Flacco taking this team to the postseason. Of course, he now serves as Anthony Richardson's backup in Indianapolis. It would be a shame if Watson got hurt in year three.
Ultimately, unless we see Watson leading the Browns to the AFC Championship at any point in the next three years, it is going to be hard to justify Cleveland trading for him. Houston was bottoming out ... until the Texans were not! They have gone from the cellar of the AFC South, to being one of the biggest challengers to Kansas City in the AFC in two years, thanks to all those assets they acquired.
Cleveland can do whatever it wants, but don't be crying in a week if Watson is down for the count.