Deshaun Watson disregards low quarterback rankings: “If they continue to talk about me, I must be pretty damn good.”

Deshaun Watson, the Browns quarterback, is perhaps entering the most significant season of his career. In the third year of his five-year, $230 million contract, he must finally repay the Browns’ big investment, especially given that they also gave up three first-round picks and three other draft picks to acquire him.

The fact that he has only played 12 games since 2020 has pushed him down the various quarterback rankings released by various members of the media. (Chris Simms ranks him at No. 24.)

Watson spoke with reporters on the first day of Cleveland’s obligatory minicamp, expressing his thoughts on those who would rank him low on the list.

“I don’t get involved with people trying to rate me places where they think I’m at the bottom of the list, you know, it is what it is,” Watson stated. “If I was at the bottom, no one would talk about me. So, obviously, if anyone is talking about me, continue to talk about me, then I must be pretty damn good.”

That is not why everyone is talking about him. They’re talking about him because he signed a large contract after not playing for a year, despite facing more than two dozen complaints for sexual misconduct during massage sessions. He played six games in 2022 after being suspended for his behaviour. He only played six games in 2023 due to an injury.

The judgement is still out on whether he can stay fit and, if so, perform effectively. He’s a topic of discussion since there’s expectation on him to be “pretty damn good” again. He hasn’t been for three years straight.

Perhaps he will be back. Perhaps he will not. That’s why he’s one of the most intriguing figures in the 2024 season.

He will either justify the Browns’ decision to make the trade and give him the contract, or he will not. If he doesn’t, the next question is whether the Browns will make a change in 2025, even if it means paying him $92 million to not play for them.

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