DeShaun Watson update: NFL insider makes definitive statement on Browns future after Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel selections

Deshaun Watson watched as the Cleveland Browns added multiple young prospects to their quarterback room during the 2025 NFL Draft. First, Dillon Gabriel was drafted out of Oregon in the third round, and then Shedeur Sanders‘ slide came to an end courtesy of the AFC North franchise in the fifth round.

With Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett already in the building, Watson future in Cleveland is murkier than ever. He’s currently recovering from an Achilles tear, and doubt was already creeping in. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the former Clemson star has likely played his final down for the Browns.

“I am surprised that it’s the Cleveland Browns, based on them taking Dillon Gabriel yesterday, when you consider their quarterback room. Yes, they have Deshaun Watson. He’s injured with that second Achilles tear. I believe he’s probably going to start on the PUP list. I don’t believe that he’s going to play football for the Cleveland Browns ever again. But he will or will not count against their 53-man roster. If he’s on PUP, he will not. So now you have four quarterbacks,” Jones explained, via NFL on CBS.

“You have Joe Flacco on a one-year, $4 million deal. Veteran, right? You have Kenny Pickett that you just traded for. Not just traded a pick for, but traded a young quarterback in Dorian Thompson-Robinson for. You’d imagine that going into training camp, those are going to be the two who are battling for QB1. That is at least going into training camp. I’m not saying about who’s going to be the Week 1 starter just yet. But now you’re going to have Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders splitting QB3 and QB4 reps.

“There’s not a lot of those reps, but one of them will clearly beat out the other. That is how quarterback competitions work. But if you’re QB4, you’re not getting a ton of reps in practice. So, it’ll be very interesting to see how that plays out. How Shedeur Sanders, who, I think right now, having just been drafted — let’s take Deshaun Watson out of this, since he’s not going to be able to perform, I think at best, he will begin in training camp as QB3.”

While Jones won’t commit to Gabriel or Sanders winning the job outright, he does believe the moves Cleveland has made signal the end of the Watson era. If this is truly the finale for the veteran quarterback, it’s the final nail in the coffin for what’s been an incredibly disappointing tenure with the Browns.

Time will tell, and nothing is set in stone, but it seems like the Browns will move forward with the idea of Deshaun Watson being done in Cleveland, and maybe in the NFL as a whole. A once promising star doesn’t have much time to burn left, it seems. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images