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Albert Haynesworth has to be up there. At least Watson has put forth effort when on the field and has had a couple good games. There's also still 3 more years for him to prove that the contract is not as terrible as it currently seems.
The problem is that even if he plays well, the cap hit after this season is massive. 63 mil a year for a single player insane. They're going to have to work magic over the next few years.
Not at all! It was and still is a great contract and deal made to trade for him, and whoever is making these decisions for the Browns should be given a permanent spot :)
We can only hope
Too early to tell imo. He’s obviously not his old self, but he’s been teetering on the good/bad. Could still come out with upside.
Injuries happen. I think while it’s gone bad right now, it’s being blown out of proportion due to his off field shit.
Not for him
Yes, also because they had Baker Mayfield, who was legitimately liked in Cleveland, and is playing fine after leaving Cleveland.
Until the next time a bad team overextends for a bad player, yea.
It hasn't worked out as intended for the Browns, but I would wait to see how good and how much Watson plays next year before making a final judgment.
Cleveland could have been a SB contender with a decent QB and instead they gave their fans this epic disaster.
At the time of the trade, Deshaun Watson was considered to be one of the best quarterbacks under 30 and outperformed Baker Mayfield every season he started.
I understand we're all going to clown on Watson because he's been underwhelming since becoming a Brown and is a piece of shit, but I feel like there are a lot of hindsight takes here.
Cleveland could have been a SB contender with Dobbs at QB! THEY TRADED HIM AWAY BECAUSE THEY HAD WATSON! Can't make this shit up. How does a team get in their own way so much!
The contract/trade was a turning point for the Texans franchise as well. Texans are in a great spot and browns are fucked.
Browns also went from a team everyone was rooting for to being despised
Seems like this is exactly what was predicted at the time.
Man I hope so
We see this question like three times a year.
It depends. If they weren't going to win the Super Bowl regardless, does it really matter where they spend their money? Only one team wins each year. How much did Phillip Rivers and Matt Ryan earn? They never won the Super Bowl, does that mean their whole career was a waste? They have to spend the money regardless. Teams have gone 30 years without winning a Super Bowl. Does it really matter what they've done in any one of those single years or even a 4 year stretch?
The browns are 6-3 how can anyone say this early on the signing was a disaster? Outside of the off the field problems there's been nothing wrong with the signing so far. If they go deep or win the superbowl under this contract will be a non-issue
How many times is this gonna get re-posted?
Hopefully
The Browns will outdo themselves. Just give it time
Jamarcus Russell was a rookie, this is such a weird comparison.
Cleveland for one half of this season has looked like they could contend with good QB play let’s not try and paste this year over last year.
There will be arguments for the Watson contract being an all time worst because it’s guaranteed and because he’s a sleeze but there is still next year to play, how can we fully judge it yet?
Worst contract So far…
I think its safe to say it already is considering how massive, its guaranteed, and all they gave up for him
It already has. Unless he comes back and wins multiple super bowls. They gave absurd guaranteed money to a guy who has only played like 13 games over 2 years, in part because he sexually assaulted 26 women. It is already the worst contract in NFL history.
Yes
It somehow manages to be worse than the Haynesworth/Russel Contracts AND worse than the Hershel Walker trade and Ricky Williams draft haul trade.
So it’s not just the worst contract, but the worse personnel move in all aspects in NFL history.
Worst contract ever.
Biggest guaranteed money deal ever (actually who are we trying to kid - this topic doubles as 'Best NFL Player Contract Ever')
Traded for & signed with looming headache over serial sexual assault cases
ZERO leverage when they trade for him and then have to sign.
Browns fans didn't deserve this.
Gauranteeing $230 million to a known sex pest was a bad idea from the start. Even if he bounces back and wins them a Super Bowl, they still gave a sex pest $230 million guaranteed. That makes it the worst contract until someone else gives another sex pest even more money.
There’s still years to go to find out. I think it’ll be pretty hard for him to not be overpaid on such a contract, but if the Browns are successful during his tenure (which next year will be a big prove it year since he dealt with nagging injuries this year) then I’d venture to say it wasn’t the worst contract “of all time”
Overpaid though? Yes unless he like wins multiple MVPs and a superbowl
God I hope so. Screw Deshaun and screw the browns for signing him. He should he fallen off the face of the planet.
Imagine what Dobbs and a healthy Chubb could’ve done with that defense…
If he comes back healthy and plays well, no... He looked like he was turning the corner this year but couldn't get healthy. A shame too, because Browns defense is so good. Turned into a wasted season losing him and Chubb
I mean, giving that contract and giving up all those picks means the Browns anticipated Watson winning a Super Bowl. Even if he bounces back and is an all pro, anything short of a Super Bowl is a bust.
Yes. Indeed it will.
Yes and something that makes it worse is that a lot of these things you can shrug and say “well hindsight is always 20/20! Anyone would have done the same!”
But with this, almost everyone thought this was awful from the get go (except the Falcons). The hindsight was already there. And they still went ahead with it.
In all honesty the Browns will eat the rest of Watson's contract and it will most likely be a failure(can't see ,much more than maybe playoffs next year before cap hits them hard). I mean people will point out the guarantees but most QBs the number is going to end up as "guaranteed" just by them being rostered as they as usually tied to regimes. Like the Browns would not be cutting Watson right now if the money wasn't guaranteed. Plus contracts keep going up so they really can only get worse.
I am trying to analyze this from an actual contract standpoint not a " Watson is evil" only standpoint which many will do for upvotes. Heck I might argue JC Jackson's current contract with SD(now NE) might be the worst as he is being benched on a second team that already benched a CB in Jack Jones. Watson was at least playing when healthy.
Now as a wholistic thing the trade and contract has a good chance of going down as the worst ever but the contract itself probably not especially if Watson comes back at league average at least next year. I mean if he plays out the contract at that level and maybe makes the playoffs once he becomes the current Browns best QB kind of by default.
Mostly because of all the assets they had to send. Jamarcus Russell and Sam Bradford's contract is almost as bad just because of how bad they were but the team only lost one pick.
Worst ever and it won't even be close:
3 more years at 60 million each season, he'll probably play 25-30 games total
Guaranteed money plus lost draft capital
Dragged your team (let's be honest, entire city) reputation by looking the other way on his sexual assault charges
Wasted the best defense in the NFL
They did this to themselves. Browns should be cleaning house
It’s possible but I hate that people are already acting like that’s set in stone. There’s still another 3 years remaining on it. It hasn’t looked good so far, which doesn’t mean it never will
Dude hasn’t been consistent at all. Sure he’s had moments he’s looked really good but he completely lacks consistency. It’s almost like every quarter you get a different Deshaun. Throw in the total shitbag character and it’s not looking good at all. If he doesn’t turn it around early next year we’re better off cutting our losses and getting a vet for cheap.
A - Browns absolutely tanked any goodwill people outside their market had towards them. Signing a known predator will do that. They went from love able losers to major villains overnight.
B - Signaled to any future QB that’s drafted that not only will you be destroyed playing here, you will be tossed away at the first opportunity (Baker Mayfield).
C - Fully guaranteed a contract for an amount that was so out of the market value, the next few contracts actually fell back in line thus proving how stupid a contract it was.
D - for all this loss of goodwill and money…they likely won’t even get a single solitary playoff appearance out of Watson.
There was zero upside to this. None. Nadda. They would have been better off riding Baler Mayfield until his arm fell off. They would have been better trying to get a 46 year old Brady out there. They would have been better trying to ritualistically summon the ghost of Johnny Unitas to try and play for them.
They would have to win a Super Bowl AT LEAST, and the longer he's on the roster the less likely that gets due to the way his contract cannibalizes their finances. Undoubtedly fucking horrendous.
I don't know, we had JaWalrus Russell
Do they really have no clauses for injury retirement or being cut to reduce that money at all?
I feel like some of the late-stage #1 picks have to top Watson and Haynesworth. Sam Bradford, didn't he get $100m? The curbing of those contracts was essential because it basically helped keep this poverty cycle going for the worst teams. You got this crapshoot "top pick" AND you had to pay crazy dollars against the cap to even use them.
Anybody saying yes right now is being stupid. It's too early to determine how good or bad it will be when he has 3 more years on his contract. If this was some career effecting injury then that would be one thing, but it's season ending.
Anybody saying it's the worst now when all it would take is to get hot one of the next 3 years to go on a playoff run and win a Super Bowl to make it 100% more than worth it is just not paying attention to what's going on.
Being not worth it right now and it being over aren't the same.
you all are insufferable with your Watson takes the guys has been out of football for 2 years, hes not going to come back and light it up, its so dumb to declare this the worst contract when he has so much time to prove himself.
"All time"? I dunno, I can't predict the future.
To date? Not even a debate.
Unless he turns it around in a big way next year, yes, absolutely.
Not only did they give him $230 million guaranteed, but they traded a king's ransom to get him. Three 1sts, a 3rd, and a 4th in return for Watson and a 5th is almost as much as Washington gave up to draft RG3 (three 1sts and a 2nd), and they got him on a rookie contract that only ended up paying RG3 around $21m total for his entire time there.
It's worse than the Haynesworth contract, for example, both in terms of sheer financial cost and in terms of setting the team back for years in a much worse way. It's worse tha. The JaMarcus Russell rookie contract by a mile when you factor in the draft picks spent in the trade.
As of right now, Watson has played a total of 12 games (including the ones he left early due to injury) for the Browns and amassed a total of 2200 yards, 14 TD, and 9 INT across two seasons, at the cost of over $91 million. Without even mentioning the draft picks they gave up for him, that is absolutely ridiculous.
Yes. Absolutely, as will the trade. He will be the poster child for why no owner or gm will give a fully guaranteed contract ever again.
They were a Super Bowl contender with Watson playing injured.
It might not be worse and has less guaranteed money, but the Russell Wilson contract doesn't look great.
Sean Payton is getting more out of Russ and it's looking better for them this year.