With all the quarterback drama the Cleveland Browns have dealt with this season involving Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders, it’s easy to forget that Deshaun Watson is still on the roster.
Watson has spent the entire 2025 season on the team’s reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list as he continues to recover from an Achilles injury he suffered in 2024. A Browns insider recently provided an update on his status for the remainder of the season and shared some insight on his future in Cleveland.
Insider Provides Update on Deshaun Watson’s 2025 Status and Future in Cleveland
Since taking over as the Browns’ starting quarterback in 2022, injuries have been a constant issue for Watson. He has yet to appear in more than seven games in a single season with Cleveland. He has missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from the Achilles injury he suffered last year.
With Watson out to start the year, the Browns added Flacco as a veteran option. They selected Gabriel and Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft. Flacco began the first four weeks before being benched for Gabriel and was later traded to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Gabriel has led the offense since Week 5, but after he went down in Cleveland’s Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Sanders had to take over. With the Browns’ quarterback depth stretched thin, fans have started to question whether Watson might return before the season ends.
Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot recently gave an update on Watson’s status, noting that the team hasn’t set a deadline to open his 21-day practice window that would mark his return from the PUP list.
🚨”They do not have any kind of a deadline for opening up the 21 day practice window. In a perfect world, they’d wait until the offseason to put him on the practice field. He will be on the team next year.”
đź“ž@MaryKayCabot with an update on Deshaun Watson pic.twitter.com/IT0bnjYR6w
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) November 20, 2025
“They [the Browns] do not have any kind of deadline for opening up the 21-day practice window, designating him for return from reserve/PUP,” Cabot said. “They don’t have any deadlines for that.”
Cabot added that the Browns ideally wouldn’t rush Watson back this season, preferring to keep him off the field until the offseason, as there’s no real reason to fast-track his return.
“My feeling right now is that in a perfect world, they [the Browns] would probably wait until the offseason to put him out on the practice field, and be careful with the fact that this is a revision of an Achilles, and there really probably isn’t a great reason to try and throw him into a football game on only three weeks of practice,” Cabot said
Cabot makes a strong point. The Browns are 2-8 this season. While the offense has struggled, ranking dead last in the NFLÂ according to PFSN’s OFFi metric, it doesn’t make sense to rush Watson back and risk another injury.
Given Watson’s injury history, many expect the Browns to part ways with him after the season. However, Cabot noted that the former 2017 first-round pick feels ready to play and confirmed he will remain with the team in 2026.
“He feels ready to go,” Cabot said. “But I think they’re going to be very, very careful with him. And he will be on the team next year. He will definitely be on the team next year.”
In his seven starts this season, Gabriel hasn’t shown that he can be a long-term solution at quarterback for Cleveland. Sanders looked rough in the one half he played in Week 11.
While Watson isn’t expected to be a long-term answer either at this stage of his career, it appears the Browns see him as their best option heading into next season.
