In the annals of Cleveland Browns history, the trade and contract for QB Deshaun Watson will be ranked in the vicinity of Art Modell’s betrayal of Cleveland when he moved the Browns to Baltimore. Those two, along with “The Drive” and “The Fumble,” are negative parts of Cleveland sports history that will never be forgotten.
Watson’s contract was highlighted by it being “fully guaranteed” at a level unheard of prior. The NFL has been adverse to fully guaranteed deals, including a continued issue with second-round picks in this year’s NFL draft, but Watson impacted Lamar Jackson, among others, in ways that we are learning more about years later.