The Houston Texans won the Deshaun Watson trade.
That's been known around NRG Stadium since the start of the 2023 season when rookie sensation C.J. Stroud stepped into the spotlight and created a new identity built around the roster en route to setting every franchise passing record.
Now, it's also known by the folks who offered the once-beloved Texans quarterback a fully guaranteed contract to head to Cleveland as the new face of the Browns organization.
Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam on Monday officially waved the white flag in trying to make sense of the trade, calling the move a "big swing-and-miss" for the franchise. Three years after sending Houston a mega package that included three first-round picks, Haslam and the Browns seem to be starting fresh at the league's most essential position for success.
"We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun," Haslam said Monday at the league's annual meeting. "We thought we had the quarterback; we didn't. And we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him, so we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole.
"... [The trade] was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee [Haslam] and I, so hold us accountable."
Since joining the Browns on a five-year, $230 million fully garunteed deal in 2022, Watson has started just 19 games because of suspension and injuries. He's also posted one of the lowest Total QBRs in the NFL and suffered consecutive season-ending injuries in 2023 and 2024.
A three-time Pro Bowl selection with the Texans, Watson is expected to miss a significant part of the 2025 season after tearing his right Achilles tendon in October. He underwent a second operation in January after retearing his Achilles during the early stages of the offseason.
Even if Watson were to return to Cleveland, the former Clemson and Texans star isn't expected to be viewed as the starter. Since joining the Browns, he completed 60.2% of his pass attempts for 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. For more starters, that's a season's worth of below average numbers.
For Watson, it's been his entire tenure in Cleveland. The Browns actually improved as a roster when they turned to Joe Flacco in 2023 after Watson suffered a season-ending torn ACL, going on a run to the postseason and meeting up with Houston in the wild-card round.
The best part about the deal for Houston? It won't be on the leash for $46 million each of the next two seasons as part of Watson's guaranteed salary. Even if the Browns were to release Watson this offseason, they still would owe him over $90 million through the 2026 season.
The Texans also have hit on a majority of the picks acquired in the deal to land Watson. Even if those picks haven't hit immediately, they were used to ensure a new crop of talent would provide stability to the staff. Take a look at the deal for C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The pick acquired from the Watson trade was used to land the do-it-all safety as a missing link to a promising secondary.
So while yes, the Texans did miss on Kenyon Green with the ...
