The Cleveland Browns made one of the most spectacularly bad decisions in NFL history in 2022 when they sold the farm to trade for QB Deshaun Watson, while Baker Mayfield continues to prove that they didn’t have to. That’s the story the first week of the 2024 season is telling, and it’s one many are reading with schadenfreude.
Deshaun Watson looked like something between a hot mess and a dumpster fire yesterday, whereas Mayfield…did not. That alone is sufficient to call the Browns’ decision into question, as if it hasn’t been amply for two years.
Let’s start with the basics.