Why the Browns are willing to wither with Watson

The Cleveland Browns have a glaring problem under center - which seems obvious to everyone except the Cleveland Browns.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson's play has handcuffed the franchise into a 1-4 start, the worst of head coach Kevin Stefanski's five-year tenure.

"It's really embarrassing football and … all of their issues really start with the quarterback," one league executive told theScore. "(Watson's) accuracy, it's vanished. There's no chemistry between Watson and the pass-catchers, no trust between him and the offensive line."

Watson was sacked seven times during Cleveland's Week 5 drubbing at Washington, upping his season sack total to a league-high 26. He also lost a fumble. The Browns were 1-of-13 on third down, and Watson completed only 15 passes for 125 yards as he showcased many of his self-inflicted issues.

Watson's completing a career-low 60.2% of his passes. The Browns have failed to score 20 points or record 300 yards in all five games, while Watson's 21.0 QBR rating is the NFL's worst.

Despite Watson's consistent struggles, Stefanski told reporters Sunday and Monday he's sticking by the three-time Pro Bowler rather than turning to backups Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The Browns visit the Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) on Sunday.

"I have to coach better. As offensive coaches, we have to coach better," Stefanski said. "As players, we have to play better. Deshaun can play better. He will play better."

It's a mighty interesting choice for Stefanski to defend Watson since all the losing puts Stefanski's job at risk. He's the reigning NFL Coach of the Year, and he's surrounded himself with well-regarded coordinators Jim Schwartz (defense) and Ken Dorsey (offense).

So is it truly Stefanski's choice to stick with Watson? The QB's minus-0.333 expected points added per dropback ranks 31st in the league and is the worst of any Cleveland QB since at least 2000.

Stefanski's repeated messaging about Watson is likely being influenced by his employers. Owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Andrew Barry are the ones who made Watson the NFL's highest-paid player in March 2022.

The Browns and Watson still have two-plus years remaining on the unprecedented five-year, $230-million contract that set records for the total amount and most guaranteed money in NFL history. It also cost Cleveland three first-round picks to acquire Watson from Houston in what's proving to be one of the league's worst-ever trades.

Now in his eighth season and only 29 years old, Watson looks washed. Too often he's missing open receivers, darting from clean pockets, and inflicting pre-snap procedural penalties.

"The offense is going to go as far as I go," Watson told reporters after Sunday's loss.

"As a quarterback, you take all the pressure. You take all the heat. You take all the blame. I've got to find ways to bring everybody else along with each other and … eliminate all the mistakes that are going to cause us to get behind the eight ball and put ourselves in situations that we don't want to be in."

Some might point to Cleveland's offensive line, a group gutted by injuries, as a factor. Watson's been credited with a league-high 97 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. But dig deeper, and Watson isn't working within the offense's structure nor is he able to make off-schedule plays to move the chains like some of his successful peers.

Watson's generated just 42 first downs as the most-pressured QB in the league behind PFF's 30th-ranked offensive line. Meanwhile, Seattle's Geno Smith, the NFL's second most-pressured QB behind PFF's 27th-ranked offensive line, is tied with San Francisco's Brock Purdy for most first downs with 76 each.

After seeing Cleveland finish out last season with ancient Joe Flacco going 4-1, you have to wonder what the Browns would look like with Winston under center.

Barring a new suspension from the NFL for Watson's ongoing legal troubles, the Browns are hopelessly tied to him until 2026. According to Over The Cap, he carries enormous dead-money figures in 2025 and 2026, depending on whether he's cut before or after June 1 of that year.

Denver's release of QB Russell Wilson last season represented the biggest dead-cap charge in NFL history at $85 million. A post-June 1 Watson release next year would count as $119 million in dead money. (A pre-June 1 release would be $172 million.) Even a post-June 1 release in 2026 would cost the Browns $73 million.

Pressed multiple times on whether to bench Watson - clearly Cleveland's most pressing issue - Stefanski quadrupled down: "This is a football team. This is the greatest team sport there is and we have to play better as a football team."

That's not an answer that'll placate fans in Cleveland.

Josh Tolentino is theScore's lead NFL writer.