Deshaun Watson has no animosity toward Cleveland after collecting $184M for 19 TDs in four seasons.

Down there, maybe 40 paragraphs into a feature on Deshaun Watson, ESPN this week quoted someone close to the quarterback who delivered the most impressive news of the NFL offseason: Watson doesn’t hate Cleveland.

To quote the story, “Watson, who has not spoken to the media since the tear [his] Achilles [a second time, actually]He has no animosity toward Cleveland, according to a source close to him.”

That’s great to know. What a relief that Deshaun Watson doesn’t hold grudges.

This, of course, is worrying.

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Its structure is absurd because, well, Watson collected $184 million from the Browns in the last four years while throwing 19 touchdowns in 19 starts, only nine of which he was able to lift his team to victory.

Watson, brought to Cleveland from the Houston Texans for five draft picks, three of them first-round picks, was the NFL’s biggest trade of the decade and possibly any decade.

He brought the burden of the saga of sexual harassment tied to his escape from massage parlors in Cleveland and after settling with 23 women who accused him of harassment, the NFL and agreed to an 11-game suspension that made his first Brown season in 2022 a wash.

Then came the second season (2023) which was cut short by a shoulder injury and the third season (2024) which was cut short by an Achilles injury and the last season (2025) which did not go down due to a second Achilles injury.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson with general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski during his introductory news conference on March 26, 2022, at the Browns’ training facility in Berea, Ohio. (Jeff Lange/USA TODAY NETWORK)

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Watson, in other words, has been a gift that keeps on taking for the past four years.

And against that backdrop, he’s earned some criticism and even insults from Cleveland fans.

But no worries, Dawg Pound! Deshaun Watson doesn’t hate it, his friend tells the media.

Why is this important? Because it speaks to the company that Watson keeps, showing about him. Speaking to that company somehow believes that Watson is in any way hurt by his form over the past four seasons when, in fact, he should be thanking heaven that he is still wearing a Browns uniform in Year 5.

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The arrogance of it all.

This is like inviting a homeless person into your home, shelter him, feed him, clothe him, teach him, and confide in that person that the newly freed person doesn’t think much of.

Or it won’t open a “learning” center in your back yard.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson looks for an open receiver during the second half of an NFL game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

It is an insult.

Watson is currently locked in a starting quarterback battle with Shedeur Sanders this offseason. That battle is likely to continue into training camp as new coach Todd Monken tries to find a quarterback who won’t be a total failure — like the last 42 or so quarterbacks the Browns have started.

So Watson gets a chance.

He gets that opportunity because the Browns still owe him $46 million more this season, the final season of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract. So, the club figures, maybe Watson can start getting his last paycheck.

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If he does, an ESPN source speculated, Watson may be open to signing an extension and staying with the Browns this season.

That one so generous.

Cleveland apparently owes a quarter-billion to a quarterback who has brought nothing but embarrassment with a debt of gratitude.

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