Browns open 21-day return window for QB Deshaun Watson

Cleveland's highest-paid offensive player is back on the practice field for the first time this season.

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was designated to return to practice, opening a 21-day window for the franchise to either activate him to the 53-man roster or shut him down for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Watson is recovering from multiple Achilles surgeries since January and was thought to be out for the season while healing from the procedures.

The Browns have started three different quarterbacks this season: Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals in October. Gabriel started four games before dealing with a concussion, which opened the door for Sanders -- a rookie drafted 50 spots behind Gabriel in April -- to take over as QB1.

"His focus, my focus, is obviously getting him back to playing football, practicing football, which he hasn't done in over a year," Stefanski said. "So, it's a good next step for him."

Stefanski did not commit to getting Watson on the field for a game before the end of this season. Cleveland remains on the hook for one more year of his five-year contract.

He counts more than $80.7 million against the salary cap in 2026 with a base salary of $46 million. Owner Jimmy Haslam called the Watson acquisition a "big swing and miss" in March.

Watson, 30, has played 19 games with the Browns and thrown 19 TD passes since he was acquired from the Houston Texans in 2022 and signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract in Cleveland.

Haslam will have paid Watson $184 million when the 2025 season ends. If Watson does not take the field for a game, he will have earned $9.68 million per game played with the Browns.

He was suspended 11 games in 2022 for off-field conduct related to sexual misconduct allegations with more than 20 massage therapists. His 2023 season was cut short by left shoulder surgery and the 2024 season ended abruptly for Watson in Week 7 because of a ruptured Achilles.

He missed the final 10 games and is nearly 14 months removed from his most recent game action. He had a second Achilles surgery in January to repair a new tear in the same tendon.

The Browns restructured Watson's contract in the offseason -- he received a $44 million restructure bonus -- to free up salary-cap space and sign defensive end Myles Garrett to a four-year, $160 million contract and curb his trade demand.

--Field Level Media