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Daniel Oyefusi
BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns will not activate quarterback Deshaun Watson from the physically unable to perform list, coach Kevin Stefanski said Tuesday.
The decision means that Watson, who tore his right Achilles tendon in October 2024 and then underwent a second surgery in January after retearing it, will not play in the 2025 season.
The deadline to activate Watson from the PUP list was Tuesday, when the practice window closed. During the past three weeks, Watson has conducted individual drills and run the scout team offense. He spent the first three months of the season on the list, and the Browns opened his practice window Dec. 3.
“He’s done a great job with everything that’s been asked of him,” Stefanski said. “I’ve gotten to see him work so hard, whether it’s in the training room, by himself in the indoor with the trainers, on the practice field now for the last bit. Just felt like this was the right decision for him and for us. His focus will continue to be to help this football team and continue to get healthy and get stronger and all those types of things.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier this month that the Browns are planning to have Watson on their roster next season. Although Watson was unlikely to play this season after returning to practice, Cleveland opened his practice window to give him his first practices this season so he would not be away from football continuously until next spring, according to Schefter.
Watson, 30, has one year remaining on the five-year, $230 million contract that is fully guaranteed. Cleveland still owes Watson $46 million in salary next season, and his cap hit for the 2026 season is $80.7 million, the largest in the NFL.
If the Browns were to cut Watson before June 1, they would incur an NFL-record dead cap charge of $131 million. If Cleveland released Watson with a post-June 1 designation, the dead cap would be split into $80 million in 2026 and the remaining $50 million in 2027.
The record for dead cap money is the Denver Broncos with Russell Wilson at $85 million, which was split into $53 million and $32 million charges over two years.
Suspension and injuries have limited Watson to just 19 games since the Browns traded three first-round draft picks to the Houston Texans and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract in March 2022.
Watson began his Browns tenure serving an 11-game suspension after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. Watson also missed the final eight games of the 2023 season after undergoing surgery to his throwing shoulder.
Since making his debut with the Browns, Watson has posted a 33.1 Total QBR, which would rank above only Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward if Watson had played enough games to qualify. In March, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam called the Watson trade a “big swing-and-miss.”
Rookie Shedeur Sanders has started Cleveland’s past five games and is expected to also start the Browns’ final two games of the season. The Browns are 3-12 and have the third-highest chance (24.2%) to get the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, according to ESPN Analytics.
