FOUR DAYS BEFORE the Cleveland Browns’ 2024 season opener at Huntington Bank Field, Deshaun Watson was asked if he still considered himself one of the league’s elite quarterbacks.
Watson, for whom Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to the Houston Texans and guaranteed $230 million for five years in 2022, had played 12 games since the 2020 season.
He’d led the NFL in passing yards, yards per attempt and yards per completion in 2020. But, hoping to be traded, he sat out the 2021 season. During that time, he was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage sessions — allegations which eventually led to an 11-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy to start his Browns career in 2022.
Heading into the 2024 season, Watson’s 41.9 QBR since making his Browns debut was the sixth-worst mark in the league during that span. But the quarterback was confident he could return to his status as one of the best at his position.
“Of course. No doubt,” Watson answered.
