We made it to the second round of the playoffs with a healthy Baker. Do you mean to tell me that after spending 230M on Watson that your expectations are that he will do as well as a healthy Baker did without a #1 WR on the field? That would seem like a massive investment into a player whose expectations are no higher than what was achieved from the former QB on his 4th head coach in 3 years without a #1 WR. I suppose if you set the bar low enough the trade can be justified even after you sacrifice the integrity of the franchise. At a minimum, anything less than the AFC Championship would be considered a failure and injuries cannot be a factor at all. The Browns set that bar level by their actions considering everything that transpired in 2021. Ignoring everything that occurred in 2021, the main cause of the Browns failure has been directly placed on the QB play of an injured player - PERIOD. Since that is the case, the supposed massive upgrade at the position is basically saying that all things considered, 2021 would have been a deep playoff run if the Browns had Watson at the helm instead of Mayfield. As others have pointed out, Watson is expected to carry this team without excuse. If it wasn't a good enough reason for Mayfield's regression in play, then why would it be acceptable for the consensus massive upgrade at the position? If you're going to pay said player significantly more than a Rodgers, Mahomes, or Allen - then nothing less than equal or better results should be expected no matter the circumstances that play out.
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