NFL

Is this Jimmy or Dee?

Pretty sure everyone dubbed it a disaster the moment it happened

When it occurred?

The second it happened.

It's been a disaster since the trade was conceived. I smoke my own goddamn body weight in weed every week and I could not get high enough to do that on madden, the browns fucked up in the most browns way. An incredible level of stupidity in decision making

Always has been

Idk but let’s post it weekly for the karma

We are well past that point in time

When announced. Very few players have come back after two years out and played well so that was a big gamble. They tied themselves to a frankly ridiculously idiotic contract that leaves no room to wiggle and Watsons last playing year didn't bring in a lot of wins. Stat's are great and all but its a team game and, well he couldn't lead his team to a win.

Oh, and they legitimized a rapist so yeah, definitely when it was announced.

About 5 games ago

now

Now, and I love it. The Browns used to be lovable losers.

Now they are the team that gave away the farm, and a fully guaranteed gigantic, franchise breaking contract for a predator.

Fuck them.

I don’t have a time machine

Now

You could argue it's a disaster right now, but at least they're still winning games. If/when they start losing is when it'll be panic mode

Immediately upon signing. Almost regardless of his success on the field, IMO.

That article title implies we might not have reached that point yet, which is kinda funny. It was overwhelmingly questionable when they even traded for him; he basically needed to be an All-Pro to try justifying being allowed to play*, and not only is he not that, he's been one of the NFL's worst quarterbacks when he's played. On a insane contract, too.

*Don't construe this as "if he's an All-Pro, then it makes up for the allegations. I'm talking purely from a PR perspective with the Browns; my personal views on Watson are just as negative as anyone else here.

Yeah, the difficult part about assessing this trade is the sexual assault allegations. Like, most of us would agree that having a QB with 30 sexual assualt/sexual harassment cases is bad, because that QB is a piece of shit, so from that perspective any trade for Watson is bad the moment it gets made.

However, looking at this from a purely on-the-field perspective (hard to do, yes, because Watson is a piece of shit), I can see why the Browns made the trade. It's based on three assumptions: 1) Baker had hit his ceiling as a mid-QB, certainly not on the level of Mahomes and Allen; 2) Watson was better than Baker at that time; 3) Watson had not hit his ceiling and could potentially be a top-5 QB in the league. Now, you can debate all three of those points, but that's what Cleveland was operating on - and after the 2020 season, the narrative on Deshaun was that he was a great QB wasted on a shit franchise in the Texans.

Top-5 QBs, or potential top-5 QBs, don't typically become available in their late 20s unless there's some heavy baggage involved like a spotty injury history or torched relationships with the owner and front office. That baggage typically isn't 30 harassment/sexual assault cases, but the Browns FO still saw that as baggage all the same. And the thing with baggage is that, typically people stop caring as much if the guy comes in and plays like a top-5 QB and the team wins a bunch of games. You'll never really live down trading for a sex pest in the eyes of a lot of people, but if Deshaun has them regularly competing for titles playing like the top-5 QB they think he can become, they aren't going to care. Lots of Super Bowl teams had some absolute pieces of shit as their best players. The Super Bowls count all the same and last I checked the Browns don't have any of those yet.

The fully guaranteed contract was dumb as hell, but I look at that from the perspective of 1) Watson didn't want to play for the Browns (reports at the time were that he greatly preferred Atlanta or Miami), 2) the Browns thought this was their best chance (and maybe their only chance for a long while) to get a potential top-5 QB on their roster, 3) they needed a trump card that would get him in the building, because he wasn't even considering them as an option. So, hell, throw a bunch of money at him and guarantee the contract. Yes, you run the risk of him mailing it in, but at least he's in the building and you just hope that he'll be motivated to play to his best abilities.

The very second it was done. Absolute PR nightmare. Absolute mistake

It’s already at that point. Team actually looks better with Walker at QB

Now? Last season? The moment the fucking did it

Was it ever NOT considered a disaster?

Sell the team Haslam

We are here

Already is

The minute it happened

For Watson to be worth the trade capital and salary cap investment, he would need to be a top-3 QB in the league every year and be a major player in the Browns winning at least one SB.

Even if Watson was good and the Browns don't go to the playoffs that's already a disaster. If he plays at his current level for the next few years, it's one of the worst trades in NFL history because the Browns will likely have to shelf what is one of the better all-around teams in football because they have a QB who cannot be traded or cut without destroying their salary cap, and by the time he can walk many of these players will be over the hill or retired entirely.

Not until he is released. If he magically takes them on a playoff run then all the issues with the contract will be moot.

From inception

When PJ Walker of the XFL has given the Browns just as many wins this year as Watson has for a fraction of a fraction of his contract.

When he doesn't give us at least one good playoff run. If we could maybe just make it to the second round or an AFC championship he will have been worth it. As it stands now, he's not.

It was a disaster the day it happened lmao they fully guaranteed his contract haha

5 weeks ago

When they made the trade to begin with and labeled him as more of an adult than Baker Mayfield.

As soon as it happened

At what point? That would be the moment that ink went to paper. Browns will do Brown things.....literally!

the moment it happened?

Yesterday?