Deshaun Watson deserves to be benched for disgracefully quitting on Browns

Deshaun Watson has given the Cleveland Browns plenty of reasons to give up on him. His off-the-field behavior has been despicable and his performance on the field has been awful. But Kevin Stefanski has stuck with him. Now, he has every reason not to.

The Browns $230-million quarterback put the cherry on top of a truly horrendous outing against the Commanders by ambling off the field while his teammates lined up ready to go for a fourth down conversion.

Cleveland faced a fourth-and-goal from the Washington 8 in the third quarter trailing 24-3. A touchdown there would have given the Browns some life at least, but Watson wasn't even interested in trying.

Most quarterbacks hate being taken off the field when at the goal line. Most quarterbacks are begging for a chance to find the endzone. Not Watson. He flat out gave up, forcing the Browns to take a delay of game penalty and kick a field goal.

Deshaun Watson quit on the Browns, so they should quit on him

The mentality is all wrong for Watson. I get it, it's tough to play behind an offensive line as vulnerable as Cleveland's. They allowed seven sacks against the Commanders.

Still, when a team gives up that many sacks, the QB holds some responsibility for holding onto the ball too long or having poor pocket presence. Watson isn't elevating his team the way you'd expect from a quarterback getting paid as much as he is. In fact, he's an active detriment to the team.

With eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter (because yes, Stefanski still refuses to put in Jameis Winston), Watson was 14-of-27 with 115 yards. The only positive thing to say about his performance is that he didn't throw an interception. Of course, he did fumble, so he wasn't turnover free.

The Browns clearly made a massive mistake investing in Watson. His admitting defeat in that moment should be enough for Cleveland to admit defeat on him.