Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson underwent Achilles surgery Thursday after rupturing the tendon again.
His status for the 2025 season is “in jeopardy,” ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reports.
Watson, 29, suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in October, MRI exams revealed.
Then, in January, in the midst of his rehabbing process, he alerted the Browns’ front office that he had had a setback in his recovery.
“We don’t have all the details and everything yet, but it will obviously extend the recovery process for him,” Browns’ general manager Andrew Berry told reporters Monday.
At the time, Berry added it was “too early to tell” if the setback — now determined to be a second Achilles tear — was going to impact Watson’s availability for the 2025 season.
Watson’s first Achilles tear occurred during the Browns game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7.
The quarterback fell to the ground without taking any contact.
The worst was confirmed the following Monday — the Achilles had been torn, Watson was done for the season.
Cleveland was 1-5 with Watson under center — 1-6, including the loss to the Bengals in Week 7 — and then had a very brief resurgence with Jameis Winston calling the shots.
The Browns upset the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8, with Famous Jameis throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns. But Cleveland won just one of their final nine contests, ending the 2024-25 season with an abysmal 3-14 record.
The upside of all that losing, however, is the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Cleveland is set to select behind the Tennessee Titans — who also figure to take one of the two top arms, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward.
Whoever is under center for the Browns in 2025 will be working with a new set of offensive coaches, as the franchise fired both their offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey, and offensive line coach, Andy Dickerson.
Both were coming off just their first seasons with Cleveland in 2024-25.
Watson is currently in the middle of a five-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $230 million that he signed with the Browns in 2022. 2024 was his second consecutive season cut short due to injury; he played just six games in 2023 after sustaining a shoulder fracture.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who started two games for Cleveland this year, is the only other quarterback currently under contract.
There have been reports linking benched Falcons starter Kirk Cousins to Cleveland.
