Analytics expert shares wild idea impacting Browns' Deshaun Watson

It appears certain individuals in NFL circles believe the Cleveland Browns could have somebody other than Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback for Week 1 of the 2024 season. 

For a piece published Friday, ESPN NFL writer and FTN Network chief analytics officer Aaron Schatz suggested Cleveland should have a signal-caller compete with Watson this summer for the club's QB1 gig. 

Schatz mentioned that Jacoby Brissett posted a 62.0 QBR with Cleveland during the 2022 campaign (11 starts, 16 appearances), while veteran Joe Flacco finished this past regular season with a 48.3 QBR (five starts, five appearances). To compare, Watson had a 40.4 QBR in 2022 and a 42.9 QBR this season (six starts, six appearances for both years). 

"They can go one of two ways with this," Schatz said about his idea. "Use a second- or third-round pick on a young quarterback and let that player compete with Watson in camp, or bring back one of the veteran quarterbacks they've already had success with."

Flacco recently made it known he'd welcome a Cleveland return this offseason, but there's no reason to think either he or Brissett would be anything other than a QB2 with the Browns through training camp as long as Watson is healthy. 

The Browns technically could explore trading Watson even though he signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract in March 2022, but general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski both seem committed to starting the 28-year-old until further notice. It's believed that a major reason the Browns replaced offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Ken Dorsey this winter is because Stefanski and company hope Dorsey can help Watson reach his ceiling due to the coach's previous work with dual-threat quarterbacks Cam Newton and Josh Allen. 

Berry bringing either Flacco or Brissett back to serve as Watson insurance makes all kinds of sense considering the three-time Pro Bowl selection is coming off a season-ending shoulder injury. With that said, a win-now team with a young starting signal-caller like the Browns shouldn't spend a second-round draft selection on who would be a backup quarterback. 

Cleveland also isn't trading for Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears this spring. 

Watson may lose his job during the fall due to an injury or poor play, but he'll only be competing against himself and practice defenses during summer workouts.