It is week 6 of the NFL season and the Cleveland Browns have a 1-4 record. Last Sunday afternoon in Landover Maryland the Browns lost in a blowout to the Washington Commanders 34-13. This loss left Cleveland Browns fans seething and upset. Naturally fans, reporters, and podcasters want heads to roll for this abysmal start to the 2024 season. And one of those heads is of the $230 million dollar quarterback Deshaun Watson. But Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski did say that he is staying with Watson at quarterback and that is the right decision.

The Cleveland Browns offense has a lot of problems. And it is not all on one player much less the quarterback. Watson has not played well overall in 2024. I wouldn’t even say that he played good in all 5 games. He had a good game in Las Vegas and two bad games against Dallas and Washington. The other two games were alright against Jacksonville and the New York Giants. But when your offense leads the NFL in quarterback pressures, quarterback sacks, dropped passes, penalties, and average 8.95 yards to go on 3rd downs it is a recipe for disaster. And not all of that is on the quarterback.

Coach Stefanski himself said that “the offense is not a one-person problem” and he is right. It is not. Putting aside the recent settlement and pending potential NFL discipline and his $230 million dollar guaranteed contract. Look at this from a strictly football standpoint. Benching Watson would reek of desperation and not change anything with the offense. Unless the receivers stop dropping passes, the offensive line stops missing blocking assignments, and the team stops committing penalties. Putting in another quarterback would not make things any better in fact it would probably get worse. And for all intents and purposes the 2024 season would be over for the Cleveland Browns.