![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1931055198-e1705220425540.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780\")
<\/p>\nDeshaun Watson\u00a0wasn\u2019t on the field during the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u2018 45-14 loss to the\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0on Saturday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t stop Watson from being the target of some harsh criticism after the embarrassing playoff exit.<\/p>\n
Watson has been sidelined since mid-November after\u00a0suffering a broken bone\u00a0in his shoulder. The Browns\u00a0traded for Watson\u00a0during the 2022 offseason in a\u00a0blockbuster deal\u00a0with the Texans.<\/p>\n
Cleveland gave up three first-round picks, along with a third-round and fourth-round pick. The Browns also signed him to an unprecedented\u00a0$230 million fully guaranteed deal\u00a0after the move. Through two seasons, Watson has appeared in 12 games for the Browns. He missed the majority of last season serving an\u00a011-game suspension.<\/p>\n
The Watson trade came full circle during the Wild Card matchup. The Texans used their stockpile of picks from the Browns to accelerate their rebuild and some of those players acquired \u2014 either directly or indirectly \u2014 had a significant impact in the blowout. That includes receiver\u00a0John Metchie III, as well as linebackers\u00a0Christian Harris\u00a0and\u00a0Will Anderson Jr.\u00a0The Texans still have the Browns\u2019 first-round pick in this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Browns have had Watson available for a dozen games and he has rarely shown the Pro Bowl form he did in Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about how bad the Russell Wilson trade has been for Denver. Tonight, the Deshaun Watson trade looks worse. Texans just handed Cleveland its hat,\u201d\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Mike Greenberg tweeted. \u201cAdd in the contract, Browns end of the trade looks historically awful.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Deshaun](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1890897236-2-e1705220645652.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\")
<\/h2>\nWatson\u2019s legacy was also impacted by the lopsided victory. He had his fair share of success in Houston, leading them to the postseason twice and winning a thriller over the Buffalo Bills\u00a0during the 2019 season.<\/p>\n
But rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud doesn\u2019t have anyone in Houston wishing they had Watson back. Stroud has been sensational and was surgical against the Browns\u2019 top-ranked defense. He racked up 274 passing yards and three touchdowns, finishing with a near-perfect passer rating. Stroud and Watson now have the same number of playoff wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeshaun Watson just saw his old team beat the hell out of his new team while on the sideline and CJ Stroud balls out,\u201d\u00a0one fan wrote. \u201cTo make matters worse, his new team gave up all of those assets to his old team and now his old team is moving on in the playoffs while his new team heads home.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say there\u2019s bad blood between Watson and Stroud. The two met for an embrace at midfield after the game. And Stroud said that Watson was one of the\u00a0quarterbacks he looked up to before being drafted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1931021764-1-e1705220831164.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\")
<\/h2>\nFlacco took over as the starting quarterback in Week 13 and reeled off some incredible performances. The team went 4-1 with Flacco under center and he averaged better than 300 yards per game with multiple passing touchdowns in each.<\/p>\n
Flacco\u2019s play\u00a0created some conversation\u00a0that he could potentially be in the mix next season for the Browns, especially if he led them on a playoff run. That won\u2019t happen and Flacco\u2019s Cinderella story with the Browns ended with a thud. The soon-to-be 39-year-old quarterback tossed a pair of pick-sixes in the third quarter in a 2-minute span.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually the further you go, the more heartbreak there is, just from my experience,\u201d\u00a0Flacco said after the game. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun along the way, but if you do get beat, it\u2019s hard to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watson is expected to make a\u00a0full recovery from the surgery\u00a0and will be back as the starter for training camp. Flacco proved he still has something in the tank but will sort out his options as a free agent.<\/p>\n
Deshaun Watson\u00a0wasn\u2019t on the field during the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u2018 45-14 loss to the\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0on Saturday. That didn\u2019t stop Watson from being the target of some harsh criticism after… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}