Let’s be brutally honest here. Deshaun Watson hasn’t been a top quarterback since being acquired via trade in 2022. In fact, he’s rarely been serviceable. While Watson does have an 8-4 record with the Browns, he’s thrown for only 2,217 yards with 14 touchdowns, nine interceptions and an 81.7 quarterback rating.

Cleveland opted not to retain Joe Flacco, who led the team on a late 2023 surge and into the postseason—and the fact that the offense operated more smoothly with the 39-year-old than it ever has with Watson is problematic. The Browns did add Jameis Winston, a fine spot-starter albeit turnover-prone, and Tyler Huntley this offseason.

However, if there’s going to be a Super Bowl run in Cleveland’s future, Watson has to return to the Pro Bowl form he last showed with the Houston Texans.

Unfortunately, Watson is still recovering from shoulder surgery as he tries to adapt to new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s system. The good news is that the 28-year-old has shown glimpses of being healthy.

“To watch him unleash some of the missiles, you’d never know Watson underwent surgery just 6 1/2 months ago to repair a fractured shoulder socket and torn labrum in his throwing shoulder,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com wrote during minicamp.

The bad news is that Watson hasn’t been a full participant in practice on a daily basis. The Browns simply don’t know when he’ll be back to 100 percent or if he’ll ever be the same playmaker he was in Houston.

Watson has been one of the least efficient quarterbacks in the NFL since becoming a Brown, and until/unless he changes the narrative, quarterback must be considered a weakness for Cleveland.