Browns change DeShaun Watson's mind!

    In what can only be considered to be a stunning turn of events, Quarterback DeShaun Watson reversed his decision of the previous afternoon and waived his no-trade clause, and accepted the Cleveland Browns as his destination of choice to give the Browns arguably their best quarterback since Otto Graham and at least their best since the days of Bernie Kosar in the 80s.

The Browns will send Houston their first-round picks in the 2022, 23, and 24 drafts along with a third-rounder in 2023 and a fourth-rounder in 2024 in exchange for Watson and a 2024 fifth-rounder from the Texans.

Watson had eliminated the Browns from the four teams (also Saints, Falcons, and Panthers) that were attempting to acquire his services from the Texans Thursday afternoon but the Browns worked their way back into contention with an offer that signed Watson to a new five-year contract worth 230 million and the factor that likely changed the mind of Watson- fully guaranteed the contract.

The Browns were taking lots of heat for pursuing Watson and not landing him, which then caused Baker Mayfield to demand a trade,  and faced with a choice of starting a mediocre and disgruntled Mayfield or having to start a free agent from a group that wasn't a major improvement on even Mayfield, the Browns acted decisively and took the risk of acquiring one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

Considering that the Browns were catching hell for going after Watson, getting even more for not getting him, and maybe most of all for upsetting Baker Mayfield and the "Baker Bros" for either the "Disrespect" (Mayfield fans) or "looking to upgrade" (Browns fans).

That could have caused the Browns front office (Andrew Berry) and even more likely Jimmy Haslem to I don't really want to use this term but it fits, panic about the team being in major chaos that could last throughout the season should they have to play Mayfield all season, and go back to Watson in desperation and more than likely offer the full guarantee that changed his mind.

Watson likely downgraded the Browns a bit because of the colder weather and Watson's personal connections to both the Falcons and Panthers but comparing the Browns roster to those teams (and the other contender in New Orleans) as a likely championship contender ( with the addition of Watson) along with the new guaranteed contract were the top factors in changing the mind of Watson and bringing him to Cleveland.

While panic is a harsh word, I don't mean it in a completely negative manner.

The Browns know that in a conference that has quarterbacks that go possibly ten-deep in better quarterbacks than the one they have.

Sidebar: So you believe I'm biased against Mayfield?  Tell me which of these players that Baker Mayfield is superior to?

For the purpose of this and since he didn't play last season and wasn't returning to Houston, I didn't add Watson to this list.

No way in hell category: Mahomes (Kansas City), Herbert (LA Chargers), Wilson (Denver), Burrow (Cincinnati), Allen (Buffalo)

Better but not elite: Carr (Las Vegas), Jackson (Baltimore),

Younger but better upside: Lawrence (Jacksonville), Jones (New England)

Comparable: Tannehill (Tennessee) Trubisky (Pittsburgh) before you scream about Trubisky, he did take the Bears to the playoffs twice and with better kicking would have won a playoff game- the same total as Baker Mayfield.

That leaves Mayfield in either tenth, eleventh or twelfth (depending on the person choosing) and over only two young unproven quarterbacks with bad supporting casts (Zach Wilson Jets and Davis Mills (Houston), one young quarterback that hasn't impressed me (Tua Tagovailoa Miami) and for now the vacancy with the Colts.

Under those circumstances and especially with five of the top seven quarterbacks under thirty and another (Carr) only thirty, the Browns had to feel the need to do something and do it quickly in order to compete for championships.

So Watson taking Cleveland off his list had to have placed the Browns in full action mode in what to do.

They had these choices- Keep Mayfield and the drama that would surely follow for 2022 and look for someone new for 2023.

Move Mayfield and settle for a stopgap like Jimmy Garroppolo or Marcus Mariota and renew the search in 2023

Or try to change the mind of Watson and grab a quarterback that ranks with the elite.

Under those circumstances, the move was a clear and decisive move by the Browns.

One would have to assume that Watson will miss some time in 2022 as he will likely be suspended for what I would guess to be four to eight games for his off-the-field issues and civil court cases leaving the Browns in search of a second-string quarterback.

Who the backup quarterback will be as important as that player will likely be the Browns starter for a period of time that will likely decide possibly the AFC North title and even home playoff games, so I'm interested to see who the Browns are looking for.

I kinda like Marcus Mariota as someone that resembles Watson's playing style and could get the Browns through a likely Watson suspension.

I'll likely deal with the risks that come with DeShaun Watson in a future post but without his background problems, a quarterback with his talent and his age (Baker Mayfield is actually six months older), Watson would have never been available for a trade without those situations.

Teams don't trade franchise-level quarterbacks without a reason and Watson instantly slots into the Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert, Allen category as elite and young enough to give the Browns a decade of not having to worry about the quarterback position.

I plan on doing a post (or two) on why this trade was a great idea and why it could backfire over the next few days and although I do have some concerns, which I will address in those posts, it is very difficult to complain about the football end of this trade.

Back later with the evening's boxing challenge.