Deshaun Watson only 8th highest-paid QB in NFL now

(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

Earlier this week Trevor Lawrence, quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars signed a huge contract with his team which will now pay him $55 million a year in salary.

Two years ago, the Browns signed quarterback Deshaun Watson to a five-year $230 million deal which gave him $46 million a year. Browns fans are divided on Watson for many reasons including on his hefty contract and if he’s really worth it. This new contract for Lawrence now places Watson as the eighth highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.

There was a lot of pushback after Watson signed his deal two years ago and now it’s just becoming more common that the quarterbacks are getting paid ginormous contracts. Interestingly, of the top 10 most-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, the best one Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, is No.10 earning $45 million a year.

Six of the 10 highest-paid quarterbacks have less than .500 records in their careers. Lawrence, of the Jaguars, has a 20-30 career record and only one winning campaign in 2022.

So obviously, NFL teams are throwing a lot of extra money around to their quarterbacks and not seeing much success in return. In other words, they’re wasting their money.

But in this day and age, the NFL is big business and teams around the league have a lot of money to waste.

As for Watson and his contract and how he performs on the field of play this season and beyond, the team and fans alike will expect only the best. Watson went 5-1 a year ago. The issue with last season and his future in Cleveland comes down to him staying healthy. He couldn’t last year and has struggled in his career thus far with injuries and suspensions.

Watson tore his ACL in his 2017 rookie year during a practice after Week 8. He was healthy and successful in 2018 and 2019 as his team made it to the playoffs. He skipped the entire 2021 season because of a contract dispute and came to Cleveland in 2022. However, he was suspended for off-the-field misconduct for the first 11 weeks of that season.

So, Browns fans, we still have Watson leading the team, but you can rest easy now that despite the $230 million we guaranteed him already, technically he’s not the leader in the quarterback clubhouse.

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