DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns GM Andrew Berry: ‘No rule against extending’ Deshaun Watson’s contract; QB battle is performance-based

PHOENIX — Just when the Browns are close to digging out from under Deshaun Watson’s fully-guaranteed $230 million contract, Browns GM Andrew Berry revealed Sunday that it might not be over just yet.

By Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com

If Watson wins the quarterback battle and plays well, the Browns could always bring him back for more.

In fact, when Berry first traded three first-round picks and more in 2022 for Watson, he said he hoped it would be a 10-year proposition and not just the original five.

So when it comes to Watson vs. Shedeur Sanders and whoever else is in the quarterback room this offseason, his expiring contract -- worth $46 million a year — won’t be a factor.

“We’re probably just more focused on performance and best players,” Berry told a small group of Browns beat writers at the NFL owners meetings here. “Certainly time horizon factors into that, but just with any veteran player, there’s no rule against extending the player’s contract if they perform and they do well. So I wouldn’t necessarily box it into any one approach. It really will be performance-based.”

Berry also re-iterated that no one has a leg up in the competition at this point. All three quarterbacks currently on the roster — including 2025 third-round pick Dillon Gabriel — are on equal footing heading into the start of the offseason program on April 7.

“I’d say as we sit here on March 29th, and nobody has touched the grass, nobody has really worked with our coaching staff, I wouldn’t handicap it for anyone,” Berry said. “I think everyone in that room deserves opportunity. And so we’ll certainly know a lot more as we get to the spring. We’ll know even more as we get to camp. But I think honestly, we wouldn’t be doing the right thing for the team, we wouldn’t be doing the right thing for that position if we didn’t go in with it eyes wide open.”

What’s more, he acknowledged that it’s “wholly realistic” for the Browns to add another quarterback to the mix, most likely a younger one. The Browns have hosted Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson for a top 30 pre-draft visit and will spend more time on him. They’ll also consider other QBs in the draft and elsewhere, and Berry won’t “rule out any method of acquisition.”

But the Browns seem eager to see what Sanders can do in his second season with an upgraded supporting cast, a new scheme and a new head coach in Todd Monken, who cited his elite playmaking ability last month at the NFL Combine. With Berry and Monken both noting that Sanders has a long way to go, can he make up that ground by the opener?

“That’s a little bit TBD (to be determined), because all of our guys coming in, they’re going to learn a new offensive system,” Berry said. “We’re going to have a fair amount of turnover on that side of the ball. They’ll have new teammates to learn, which is why the spring will be really important for the guys that are at the offseason program for us to really, really get a sense of their progress year over year.”

He noted that Sanders has been “working really hard. I would expect him to take a step forward and we’ll deal with that kind of week-by-week and month-by-month.”

The quarterback competition will get underway at Browns headquarters in just over a week, and if Watson lives up to his vow to be better than ever, it might not be his last season in Browns uniform after all.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/20...ract-qb-battle-is-performance-based.html

Well Pit, at least we're keeping all our options open!!

That's what husbands say while they're out looking for a hooker.

LOL 😂

If Watson gets an extension without winning a Super Bowl, I am done with this team.

You know ... it's ALWAYS a possibility that the Watson was bad because he didn't fit Kevin's very strict system. The one who lit it up with Kevin were the ones who ignored him like Flacco and Winston. What if we discover that the problem wasn't Watson but Kevin? We might find out if they keep the competition TRUE and let the best QB win. What if Monken returns Watson to his original glory?

I admit I would rather Sanders rise to the top after a brutally tough competition. Sanders has potential if he can speed up his game. Can he even learn the playbook in time though? I am not sure. He is a media darling who seem to know all the right things to say but he seems a bit slow in learning the playbook and reading defenses. He needs to focus more on improving his craft than paying attention to his public image. I would love to see him refocus and explode this year and lay all doubt to rest.

I'd say the chances are slim. However, Watson could beat out Shedufus, so who knows? If he played well, I wouldn't be against it.

I wouldn’t be against DW starting if he proves to be the better QB, which may happen.
I’d prefer SS take the job outright with his play because we’d have our future QB.

Watson is 30. For a QB that is still young enough for him to be considered your future QB. While unlikely, it isn't out of the question of him playing another 9-10 years. Even 5-6 years is far better than anything we have seen over the last 15 years or so. It's been like the Browns have been running a QB of the month club.

When it comes to Desean Watson, this is what I see as the most likely outcome. He wins the battle, starts two games. He looks great, but gets hurt, nothing season ending, but keeps him out for about 10 weeks. Browns start out 1-1.

Sanders replaces him and looks like we all thought he would, hoped he would be better, but isn’t. We are convinced he is no the QB of the future. Wins 2 out of 10 games.

At 3-9, Watson returns healthy. Looks as great as he did the first two games, The Browns finish the season on a 5 game win streak. Finish the season 8-9. No hope for a playoff, but hope that Watson could be the QB everyone wanted.

Then he gives them the middle finger on his way to free agency as he signs with the next big chump willing to give him more than he is worth.

I hate being negative, it isn’t part of my DNA, except when it comes to Watson.

I can see him being just good enough to ruin our season of what could have been and also winning just enough to ruin our chances of getting a QB in the 2027 draft. At 8-9, it’s possible we would be picking in the 11-28 range. Just out of reach of moving up far enough to get one of them without the option of trading 5 years worth of first round picks.

Watson would have to regress even more than he has in his time here for him to lose out to Shedeur.
That does not mean he will be good, though, only that he'll be the best of a fairly bad bunch.

Ohhhh - I think that's a brave statement. I think the worst of DW was as bad or worse than the worst we saw of Sanders (not including Pre-season). The best we saw of DW was far better that the best we saw from Sanders. If you take the whole and average it ... DW was really really sucky for about 1/3 of the games. Bad for 1/3. Average for most of the other 1/3 and had from what I remember maybe 1 1/2 games of good. There was nothing I saw from DW that indicated he was just slightly off - for whatever reason - it looked a mess. If it is at all close I'd roll with SS or Gabriel. I don't think Gabriel is going to suit Monken's scheme but I would not throw him out of the mix yet either. He faced by far the superior defenses.

I agree with Purp. Our QB room saw a stiff range of defenses. Gabriel held up well against tough defenses behind a lousy line. DW should be able to win it, but king of the hill in this room doesn't mean good enough. Good enough to start doesn't suggest good enough to win. Seems that some here are committed to awarding the starter job to SS. Hope Monken doesn't explain this to death. Just too much of a leap to say I see starter in SS. We need more than these there have shown.

No one knows for sure, but I could see your scenario playing out. It may be the worst possible of all possibilities. Slightly less than average season, not bad enough to benefit us, not good enough to enjoy even mild success.

For me, worst case scenario has Watson playing just well enough to get another big contract
So we pass on next years Qb class that ends up producing 5 hall of fame Qb's taken in round
Watson then returns to playing like crap and an inept watson ends up being the face of our franchise for the next 10 years
Then he gets brought up on new sexual predator charges

Accuracy of Berry’s statement: 100%

Probability of it an extension occurring: 0%

It is the silly season for football.

I agree it deserves at least a chuckle, but maybe not a full out roll on the floor. Some systems don't fit a player and it's possible that Kevin's system and Watson were like oil and vinegar.