NFL reporter Peter King has made a claim regarding any potential replacements for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson following his suspension. 

The Cleveland Browns took part in what was arguably the biggest gamble this offseason when they traded for Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans, despite knowing all of the sexual misconduct allegations that were being put against him for more than a year.

They parted ways with first-round picks in 2022, 2023, and 2024 along with a 2023 third-rounder and 2022 and 2024 fourth-round selections in order to get him in the first place, before signing him up to a monster 5-year, $230m fully-guaranteed deal. 

The structure of the deal means that the Browns and Watson aren’t in financial jeopardy this year despite the suspension, but after being handed down an 11-game suspension, which also includes a $5m and counseling, there are some questions when it comes to what the team will do at quarterback.

Missing the final piece

The Browns are a team that are very much in ‘win now’ mode, having acquired an impressive set of talent over the past few years; star running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, a wide receiving group that includes the likes of wideouts Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones & tight end David Njoku, and a defense led by All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett and corner Denzel Ward.

The only thing missing for them was consistent play at quarterback, which explains why they went for Watson in the first place. However seeing as he’ll be out for 11 games, it puts this season in serious jeopardy if they aren’t able to have some great play from under centre, with their options at the moment being Jacoby Brissett, Joshua Dobbs or Josh Rosen.

The belief is that they might go out and seek a quarterback, but according to Peter King, two of the biggest names out there won’t be making their way to Ohio at any point soon.

What’s he said?

Speaking in his Football Morning In America column, King claims that whilst the Browns will look to bring someone in, moves for either San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo or free agent Cam Newton are unlikely to be the ones they make:

“I would expect the Browns will look hard at adding a quarterback to supplement Jacoby Brissett. But tamp down the expectations that Jimmy Garoppolo is on the way. Not saying it’s impossible, but I don’t sense the Browns think the conditions are right for it. “Too much money (unless the Niners pick up a ton of the obligation), lack of certainty on Garoppolo’s health with him coming back from shoulder surgery, and the difficulty of learning a new playbook overnight. Those are real issues. I doubt Cam Newton is in play either. But I do think the Browns will search for a challenger to backup Joshua Dobbs around the final cutdown next week.”

If it isn’t going to be one of them, then the market isn’t exactly swimming with high-class talent for them to use, especially those who have experience of going deep into the playoffs, so they are either going to have to go all in on bringing in some high talent, or just hope that the slimmer pickings will be able to do the job and keep them steady until Watson comes back.