Watson is currently in the third year of a five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract that he signed after being traded from the Houston Texans to the Browns in March 2022. He is expected to earn $46 million in 2025 and 2026.

The 29-year-old signal caller failed to make the impact Cleveland was hoping for when the team sent three first-round draft picks and two other selections to Houston to acquire a QB in Watson who would play in three games made the Pro Bowl his first four seasons before sitting out the entire 2021 campaign amid a trade request and allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions.

Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season and fined $5 million for violating the NFL's conduct rules. In the six games following his suspension in 2022, Watson hasn't looked the same, completing a career-worst 58.2 percent of his passes.

The Browns' QB started just six games in the injury-plagued 2023 season, which required season-ending shoulder surgery last November, and his problems continued into 2024.

Watson entered Sunday with just five touchdowns in six games for the 1-5 Browns, who have failed to score 20 or more points in a game this season.