The Cleveland Browns have not exactly been shy when it comes to spending money over the past few seasons. There was the very controversial and moderately successful tank job that took place during the mid-2010s that allowed them to be able to allocate a high dollar figure to their offense down the line. That is now, as the Cleveland Browns have the NFL’s most expensive offense, a title they are yet to justify.
This may seem like a bit of an odd statement to some. And sure, if we are basing everything just off of last season’s record and what the team has on paper, saying they have not justified the organizational spending may seem off-base. However, that is not the case.
The Browns are entering year three of the Deshaun Watson experiment, and it has pretty much been a disaster. Watson has appeared in 12 games over two seasons, with the results being very underwhelming. Outside of a select few games, Watson has been incredibly inconsistent and has mostly failed to be an average quarterback. While Cleveland did win four of the five games that Watson played more than 1 quarter in, the expected performance level that comes with his salary has not been met.
It’s not just about Watson’s failure
Despite there being a night and day difference once Joe Flacco took over as Cleveland’s starting quarterback, there is a still large contingent of people still in denial regarding Watson. Flacco had a fraction of the time to prepare to step in for Watson and surpassed his performance level rather quickly. There was an explosiveness to the Browns passing game with Flacco that has not existed for quite some time. Sure, there were some less-than-ideal plays as well too. But that sort of comes with the territory of having a quarterback like Flacco. There is one player in particular who benefited the most from having Flacco as a quarterback: David Njoku.
Njoku has mostly been an underwhelming player during his time with the Browns. Even though he was capable of making the occasional highlight-level play, the overall body of work has left a lot to be desired. That is, at least until Flacco took over. With Flacco at the helm, Njoku was finally playing at a high level consistently. Njoku caught 28 passes for 373 yards and four touchdowns over the final four games of the regular season last year, as well as hauling in seven passes for 93 yards in their playoff loss to Houston. This seven-catch, 93.3-yard, and one-touchdown-per-game average late in the year was vastly superior to the 4.6 receptions, 44.7 yards, and 0.2 touchdowns that occurred prior to Flacco’s arrival. This is pretty eye-opening and should be concerning to those who still do not think Watson is the problem here.
The Browns are reaching a tipping point
There is a time in every team’s cycle when things have reached the peak of how far they can go as currently constructed. Cleveland is nearing that point at a rapid pace. This is a roster that has plenty of talent all across the board, but the issues at quarterback will ultimately prevent them from reaching their full potential.
When evaluating their competitive timeline, the Browns should be at the point where they are making a run at the Super Bowl. The problem is the window for that is usually very short, and if a team fails to capitalize on that, there is a good chance they will never get there. That is where the Browns currently find themselves. A roster that is unlikely to collectively play at its highest level and that will soon see its star players age out of their prime or leave once their contracts are up. It is far from ideal, but it is the situation most likely to play out in Cleveland, given their current quarterback situation.
