It’s that time of year again, when many Browns fans look to the NFL Draft, with some fans participating in their own mock drafts, to see how the team can improve.
This exercise can be fun and lead to heated discussions on social media, but this year the growth, and direction of the Browns will ultimately be determined, by one player specifically, Deshaun Watson.
I know many will say that Cleveland doesn’t have a first round draft pick, but they do have eight overall selections. The Browns can still add some key pieces if Andrew Berry, does his homework, combined with a little luck. My point isn’t to diminish what needs the Browns have throughout the draft process, but the Browns are where the Bills, Chiefs, Vikings, and many other teams are: it’s about the quarterback!
The crux of the quarterback issue, and it being so paramount with teams development, as well as, growth but mainly most teams are focused on reconstructing their roster. Due to this, this is the type of contract that quarterbacks currently are under. Teams with quarterbacks under rookie deals, have so much flexibilty that if they can win early, it creates a 2-4 year window for that team to add expensive key pieces to continue to succeed. Teams with quarterbacks under franchise mega-dollar deals, have less flexibility, and need to draft extremely well. These teams also must receive elite play from the quarterback that is eating up most of their salary cap.
In Cleveland, with Watson garnering a hefty price tag GM Andrew Berry, will look to restructure the deal either this offseason or the following, but that can only give the team some relief. If the Browns want to be successful moving forward it’s really up to the play of Deshaun Watson. Watson needs to get back to his 2019-2020 form where he looked like Michael Jordan on the football field, right…Dabo Swinney?
By : Ed_In_Columbus
*Photo courtesy Dawgs By Nature*
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