Why Browns revealed monumental decision on Deshaun Watson's future

The Cleveland Browns are sticking with rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel as the team’s quarterbacks for the final two games of the regular season, a fact confirmed by the team shutting the door on any veteran help that might have come to help out on offense.

And, Deshaun Watson will have to wait until 2026 to see if he’ll ever see the field again in a Browns’ uniform.

The team announced this Tuesday that Watson would not be added to the club’s active roster after the deadline arrived to do so after his 21-day practice window came and went while he was on Cleveland’s Physically Unable to Perform list. This means that Watson will not play at all in the 2025 season, his second fully lost as a pro since arriving in the NFL in 2017.

News of Watson not being activated comes one day after the quarterback posted a reel in Instagram of himself working out at the Browns facility, with the caption, “Credits haven’t rolled... My story is still being written.”

It also comes in the wake of a tumultuous season at the quarterback position with the Browns starting the year with Joe Flacco at the helm before trading him off to their division rivals Bengals in-season and turning to third.rounder Gabriel before eventually landing on fifth-rounder Sanders for the final stretch. No quarterback this year has won more than one game for Cleveland.

Despite starting the year on the PUP list after two straight Achilles’ injuries last year, some held hope that Watson could come in and play for the Browns this year. That’s no longer an option. Multiple reports have stated that Watson is part of the team’s plans for 2026, and some have speculated that he could even fall back into the starting role, should Sanders fail to prove himself as a potential franchise quarterback.

In 2026, Watson would be in the final year of his contract, with a $46 million salary and a $80.7 million cap hit, making him virtually impossible to cut or trade.

The Browns have stated that Watson has been helping Sanders and Gabriel out behind the scenes all season long. For now, he gets to stay in that role.

Browns’ co-owner Jimmy Haslam has called the trade for Watson -- one that included giving up three first-round draft picks and subsequently signing him the the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history -- a “big swing and miss,” so not having him play this year should really come as no surprise, despite the lowly returns on Gabriel and Sanders for the year at the quarterback position.

Watson holds a 9-10 record as a starter for Cleveland across three seasons. His last start came in October of 2024.

Veteran Bailey Zappe remains as the third-string quarterback behind Sanders and Gabriel.