CNN
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Cleveland Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam called the team’s controversial acquisition of quarterback Deshaun Watson a “big swing and miss” on Monday.
The Browns traded for Watson from the Houston Texans in March 2022, sending three first-round picks away as part of the deal, and went on to give him a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
However, since then, Watson has struggled on the field, as well as battling injuries; he missed the majority of last season with a ruptured Achilles and underwent a second surgery for the injury in January putting his participation in 2025 in question.
In the first public comments made from the Browns co-owner about the trade, Haslem admitted that the high-profile trade hasn’t had the positive impact on the field he was hoping.
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Jimmy Haslam told reporters, per Mary Kay Cabot of via Cleveland.com. “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. (It) was an entire organization decision and it ends with (wife and co-owner) Dee and I, so hold us accountable.”
Watson’s move to the Browns came amid dozens of civil lawsuits on behalf of women alleging the quarterback sexually harassed or assaulted them. He was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy when he was with the Texans.
His 2023 season with the Browns was cut short because of a shoulder injury. Since arriving in Ohio, Watson has played in just 19 games across three seasons for the Browns with a 9-10 record with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
The 29-year-old still has two years left on the contract and ESPN, citing unnamed sourcing, reported late last year that Watson and the team agreed to rework his contract to add void years and move his dead salary cap into 2030.
But with the Browns holding the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it looks likely that the team will go in a new direction at quarterback.
“It would be great if we could get the quarterback, but we’re not going to force it,” Haslam said, per ESPN.com. “We’re going to be patient and we’re going to try to accumulate as many really good football players as we can.”