The Browns decision to negotiate choices with first three rounds, a third round choice and two fourth round choices in the Texans for Deshaun Watson, then give Watson the largest guaranteed contract in the history of the NFL, was a disaster. The owner of Browns, Jimmy Haslam, knows.
Haslam spoke with journalists at the league meeting today and said he accepted that the ultimate blame was him and his wife as the team owners.
“We took a big swing and missed with Deshaun. We thought we had a quarter-Arrière, we did not do it and we abandoned a lot of recovery choices to make it. So we have to get out of this hole. (The job) was a whole organization decision and it ends with Dee and I, so we are responsible,” said Haslam, via Daniel Oyefusi.
Haslam certainly deserves to be held responsible for the desolate state of its franchise, and its comments raise the question of the type of relationship that the Browns will have with Watson in the future. Watson is still on the list, but it is unlikely to play at all in 2025, both because of his torn Achilles and because he was horrible on the field and the Browns need a better quarter-back game.
In the end, all that Haslam can do now is to support his football when they try to get out of the big hole in which they are after their big swing and miss them. It will not be easy given the recovery choices and the salary ceiling space that they were wasted on Watson.
