As if leading the league in passing yards after his third Pro Bowl season in 2020 wasn’t enough, Deshaun Watson still faced multiple allegations for sexual misconduct during a holdout with Houston Texans. The Cleveland Browns chose to take a risk on the quarterback, against their better judgment; a move which, according to Bill Belichick, other franchises should be wary of replicating.
Cleveland was willing to trade three first round picks and two other picks for Texans QB Watson, but the deal is nowhere near the Browns’ $230 million five-year deal. It is, however, the largest guaranteed amount in NFL history, and there isn’t much success as Watson received multiple long suspensions and injuries and didn’t even seem close to his 2020 self.
Bill Belichick threw shade to the Browns for giving away $230 million to Deshaun Watson. Bill Belichick, in an episode of the Let’s Go podcast, addressed the issue of Browns-Watson scandal and other teams not to look at it similarly, offering a deal to Watson that the officers of the Browns did not have to make. He stated that, “Look, these situations, I think, are a lesson to the executives and teams in the National Football League. If you throw a lot of money at a player and it doesn’t pan out, then you could be sitting there with 50-60-70 million dollars of dead money on your cap and its going to be difficult to be competitive.”
“That is still 20-30 percent of your cap, that is a lot that’s a lot of decent football players that you are not able to have those individuals on your team. But they argue if you are going to dish out those kind of contracts then you must be 100 percent confident that it is the right individual to give it to, ” the former head coach commented.
Belichick is not wrong saying that quarterback Watson has participated in only 19 games for Cleveland within the four years after the trade, sitting at 5th worst in passer rating, 3rd worst in completing percentage, and 2nd worst in yardage gained per attempt. This year, his cap hit stands just above 10% of Cleveland’s cap, although in 2025 and 2026, it jumps to about 27% (around $72 million). The Browns, the Denver Broncos, and the Cowboys have also succumbed to this trap, with several failed projects headed by Russell Wilson and Daniel Jones.
Blessing in disguise – that’s how Belichick might describe the situation that Dak Prescott is in with the Dallas Cowboys. Prescott signed a 240 million premier league contract making him the most well-paid contestant in the league history, however, this might go south. What was envisioned with Prescott giving out Superbowls remains questionable with the current score lying at 3-7 and Prescott on the sidelines due to an injury. There’s always the potential for injury whenever something unusual occurs involving Prescott, who gets paid handsomely but won’t for quite a while. He’s not going to play again this season. When you consider how much investment there is, this is a huge disadvantage.
The last I checked the Cowboys, they’re looking to shelve this season and regroup for next year while also looking to start afresh in 2025 and the Browns – well, the Cowboys just have to start afresh. The two players Watson and Prescott, earn identical salaries, however, it’s fair to say that Prescott’s earnings are justified more because he’s the more consistent player. In fact, Prescott came second in MVP votes last season.
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