Fans Roast Browns Owner’s Defense Of Deshaun Watson’s Huge Fully Guaranteed Contract

Last offseason, when the Cleveland Browns not only traded for Deshaun Watson, but signed him to a unprecedented fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract, many people were taken aback.

After all, setting side his high profile legal issues, Deshaun Watson hadn’t played a down of football in over a year.

Now, following a dismal season in which Watson completed just 58.2 percent of his passes and seven touchdowns in six games for the Browns, many, including other NFL owners, are blaming him for the situation in which Lamar Jackson now finds himself embroiled.

This week at the NFL Annual Meeting, the owner of the Browns, Jimmy Haslam, defended the deal he made with Deshaun Watson.

“Every team, every business, has to look and do what they think is in the best interest of their team,” Haslam said, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal. “We did what we thought was in the best interest of our team. We still feel that way. So, we’re excited to — if you will — have the stuff behind us.

“This time last year, how many games is he going to play? Is he going to play? Is he not going to play? He’s going to be there the whole season [now] and barring injury, heaven forbid, he’s going to play all 17 games and hopefully more. That I think alone is a bigger leap to the organization, to Deshaun, to all of us.”

Cleveland.com also reports that Haslam said, ““There’s a lot of really good young quarterbacks in the NFL. There’s a lot of really good young quarterbacks in the AFC, OK? So we felt we needed to be aggressive in getting a quarterback.

“Quarterbacks in their prime, Aaron Rodgers is 39 now and still a phenomenal player, but quarterbacks in their prime don’t come in the market when they’re 26. So we reached out and grabbed Deshaun. I’m sure there are things we could have handled better, but you live and you learn as you go. That was completely new territory for all of us and [you] make the best situation.”

Browns and other NFL fans, much like numerous NFL owners, aren’t buying what Jimmy Haslam is selling regarding the massive contract he gave Deshaun Watson.

“Browns are not a model franchise,” another fan tweeted. “No other team should do what the Browns do.”

“Translation: ‘I was desperate because I’m incompetent and have never been able to put together and run a winning football organization,'” tweeted another fan.

As for the alleged misbehavior that led Deshaun Watson to have numerous legal issues and a lengthy suspension from the NFL, don’t worry about that, says Jimmy Haslam’s wife Dee. He’s in counseling.

“I don’t talk to his counselor because that’s pretty private information,” Dee Haslam said. “But he’s diligent about the work he’s doing. I know counseling works. My daughter’s a family counselor and she can tell you that it works. I feel confident he’s in good hands and I know he’s working hard.”