The Browns are entering year three of his historic, guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal, and everything, including those assistant moves in my mind, leads back to maximizing this offense with Watson as the starter. We saw a glimpse of what it should look like in the second half of that Baltimore game. Playing with the fracture in his shoulder and a high-ankle sprain, Watson went 14 for 14 for 134 yards with one touchdown pass for a 130.4 second-half rating, putting 24 second-half points on the board in that game.
But due to his 11-game suspension in 2022 and his injury in 2023, that’s really the only glimpse we’ve gotten of a Watson offense at its best. But the NFL is all about adaptability. And the Browns making assistant coaching changes gives themselves the opportunity to get fresh perspectives and ideas in the building to try and maximize Watson’s production going forward. For me, this was the storyline of the season. Yes, Amari Cooper was great, finishing with 1,250 yards on 72 catches with five touchdowns. David Njoku also had a career season with 882 yards, 81 catches and six touchdowns.
But no one else had a consistent and meaningful impact on the pass game. The Browns felt a receiver short for most of the preseason and the regular season, and when you talk about maximizing Watson’s ability, it will be important to surround him with as many reliable weapons as possible. In the offseason, I think the Browns need to be aggressive like they were two years ago in acquiring Cooper– and knowing how Andrew Berry operates, a trade independent of free agency for another high-profile pass catcher wouldn’t surprise me.I would argue it’s the most important move the team needs to make this offseason.
The Browns went through five starting tackles this year after losing Jedri Conklin, Jack Wills Jr., and Dawand Jones to season-ending knee injuries. The question for me is, what will Cleveland do if it has three healthy starting tackles? Because it’s undeniable that Jones, the rookie out of Ohio State had a breakout season. Among qualifying tackles, he finished in the top 25 with a 73.0 pass blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed only three sacks and 12 pressures in his 11 games before a knee injury sidelined him for the rest of the year.
Conklin, a former All-Pro, will be entering year two of his four-year contract extension that he signed with the Browns in 2022. Wills, this regime’s first first-round draft pick, had his fifth-year option picked up by the Browns this past year. According to Spotrac, he will earn a base salary of $14.175 million in 2024. But again, if all three are healthy, who do you decide to sit versus start? Would Wills be a potential trade candidate if the Browns end up wanting Jones to be their left tackle of the future? It will be interesting to see how the position group shakes out in the coming months.
