It’s time to start talking about the Deshaun Watson contract being the worst in NFL history. What’s crazy is I can make this argument without even considering the off-the-field baggage that came with Watson. Keep in mind, Watson signed a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed deal, which was the most guaranteed money in NFL history at the time.
Before we dive into the Watson situation, let’s take a look at some honorable mentions.
As a diehard Giants fan, I have to start with Kenny Golladay. Dave Gettleman signed him to a four-year, $72 million deal with $40 million guaranteed. Golladay played 26 games in blue and recorded 43 catches for 602 yards and scored his only touchdown in the last game of his Giants tenure. Quick math tells me Golladay pocketed nearly a million bucks per catch! Talk about highway robbery. Side note, Matthew Stafford has produced some crazy statistical seasons for many of his receivers, including Calvin Johnson, Cooper Kupp, Golden Tate, and even Golladay went for over 1,000 yards in two separate seasons.
Albert Haynesworth is a guy that came to mind right away and is seen by many to be the biggest waste of a contract in NFL history. He signed a seven-year, $100 million deal with $41 guaranteed after back-to-back all pro seasons with the Titans. The question with Haynesworth wasn’t his talent, it was the lack of effort and off-the-field concerns. Haynesworth famously said he wanted to be in Canton one day and be mentioned with the likes of Reggie White and Bruce Smith, but last time I checked, players who take 10 days to pass a conditioning test after skipping mandatory minicamp and offseason workouts don’t end up in the hall (this was in 2010 after he produced a poor 4 sacks and 30 tackles in 2009). His tenure with Washington ended with a four game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team and a trade to the New England Patriots.
Nnamdi Asomugha signed a five-year, $60 million deal with $25 million guaranteed to join the Eagles’ “Dream Team.” Although Asomugha was an elite corner at the time, giving such a large deal to an already 30-year-old corner was risky to say the least. Once Asomugha got the bag, he became burnt toast and only lasted 2 years in Philly. WIP Radio’s Hollis Thomas even reported that Nnamdi would eat lunch in his car by himself instead of with teammates! If you can’t break bread with your boys on the team, then something is way off. No wonder the “Dream Team” never lived up to expectations.
This one isn’t as bad because of the money, but the Seahawks paid this man because of 1 game! Who remembers where they were for the Matt Flynn legacy game? On New Year’s Day 2012, Flynn stepped in for an injured Rodgers and threw for 480 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Detroit Lions. Absolutely ridiculous. Seattle rewarded him with a three-year, $26 million contract with $10 million guaranteed. Flynn was famously beat out by rookie Russell Wilson and the rest is history. He never started a game for the Seahawks.
Another quarterback who got the bag after filling in for a legend is Brock Osweiler. He is notorious for replacing the injured Peyton Manning and leading the Broncos to a 5-2 record down the stretch to secure the AFC’s top seed. Houston gave him a four-year, $72 million contract with $37 million guaranteed, and he followed that up with a 15 TD to 16 INT season with a 59% completion rate. Osweiler was benched for Tom Savage late in the season who hadn’t played in a game in over 2 years! He played so poorly that Houston traded him back to Denver for the 2017 season, where he had an 0-4 record with a 55.8% completion rate, 5 TDs, and 5 INTs before being benched yet again.
Philly legend Nick Foles got PAID after winning Super Bowl MVP. Jacksonville gave him a four-year, $88 million deal with $37 million guaranteed, and he unfortunately broke his collarbone in his first game with the team. Foles would return later in the season but played terribly and was benched for Gardner Minshew. He went 0-4 as the starter in one season with the team. What makes this even worse is the fact that Jacksonville gave Blake Bortles a three year extension the year prior and released him for Foles, eating a ton of dead cap. It seems pretty obvious why the Jags were so bad for so long.
Last but certainly not least, Carson Wentz. In my opinion, this one looks absolutely terrible in hindsight but wasn’t that wild when it was signed. Philly rewarded Wentz with a four-year, $128 million deal with a whopping $107.9 million guaranteed. Talk about backing up the Brinks truck! To be fair, he was a top-three MVP candidate the year prior before the knee injury. He was never the same after the injury and Foles’ historic postseason run to lead the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory. In 2020 he completed 57.4% of his passes and led the league with 15 INTs and 50 sacks taken, and this was despite the fact he only played in 12 games. I still can’t believe that Indianapolis traded a 1st and 3rd rounder for him after that awful season. I also still can’t believe Washington traded for him the year after that.
Now let’s talk about Watson. The best comparison in my eyes is the Wentz deal due to it being the closest dollar-wise and because both quarterbacks were elite before the huge contract. However, Watson’s guarantees are more than double that of the Wentz deal! Unreal.
Supposedly Cleveland was out of the running for Watson and he wanted to play for either Carolina or Atlanta. Instead of sticking with the quarterback who ended the absurdly long playoff drought the Browns endured (shoutout to my boy Baker), they decided to hand over nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to a player who had just missed an entire season and was facing an undetermined suspension from the league for disturbing off the field behavior.
In 6 games in 2022, he went 3-3 as the starter with a putrid 58.2% completion percentage, 1,102 yards, 7 TDs, and 5 INTs. Those stats don’t scream elite quarterback to me. The talking heads all offseason wanted to blame it on the near 2-year layoff, and that is understandable. But let’s not act like Cleveland doesn’t have a top five offensive line, top five running back, a true WR1 on the outside, and an elite defense around him. There are plenty of quarterbacks doing a lot more with a lot less that don’t make nearly as much as Watson. All we keep hearing is “if Watson can get back to his Houston self…” In my opinion, THAT Watson no longer exists.
How has Watson followed up last year’s performance thus far? Cleveland has started the season 2-1 and Watson just had his clear best game as Brown against a porous Titans secondary with a stat line of 27/33 with 289 yards and 2 TDs. However, he had this bizarre play in which he threw the ball backwards and was lucky Elijah Moore was able to jump on it. On the season, he is completing 63.7% of his passes with 4 TDs, 2 INTs, and a few fumbles. Although this is an improvement from last year, he has shown he is STILL not worth that contract. I am curious to see how he plays the rest of the season without Nick Chubb in the picture.
This Cleveland team is built to win now while Watson’s cap hit is only $19 million. You must be thinking, how could he have signed the largest guaranteed deal in NFL history and have a cap hit that low for the 2023 season? Well, that’s because the Browns backloaded the hell out of it and his cap hit jumps to $63.97 million from 2024-2026.
Think about how much talent Cleveland is going to lose from this loaded roster due to Watson’s inflated cap number. If they are struggling to win with him now, how the hell are they going to become a consistent playoff contender in the years to come? Can they afford to have an elite offensive line when he is accounting for over 25% of their cap by himself? What if he loses his best target in Amari Cooper?
A quarterback only gets a deal like this if they can elevate those around him. You win because of him, not in spite of him. Do we really think Watson is still that guy? I certainly don’t. And because you made the ENTIRE contract guaranteed there is no way out. Well, apparently there is some clause in the contract if Watson were to get suspended for something that he did on the field they could get out of it. But there is no chance the NFLPA would let that slide or any of the other owners would want to help out the Browns. They reset the market and pissed off the entire league, and it is already starting to backfire. There is time for Watson to turn it around, but it sure is an uphill battle.
Shoutout to Over the Cap for contract details, Pro Football Reference for stats, and Thomas Neumann of USA Today for his list.
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