CLEVELAND — Deshaun Watson was booed by Browns fans during a preseason loss to Buffalo and responded by calling the reaction "disrespectful" and "personal" in his postgame news conference.
Watson said the boos had nothing to do with his performance, recalling that the same fanbase cheered when he tore his Achilles tendon the last time he played there. He said he would keep his feelings internal with his family.
The quarterback's struggles in Cleveland have fueled the fan frustration. Watson has completed 341 of 557 passes for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 19 games with the Browns, posting a passer rating of 80.7. He missed his fourth season recovering from a twice-torn right Achilles tendon and suffered a midseason shoulder injury in 2023, though the team reached the playoffs that year anyway.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam called the 2022 trade for Watson "a swing and miss" in March 2025. The team gave Watson a record $233 million fully guaranteed contract — at the time the richest deal in NFL history — but the investment has severely limited roster flexibility.
Watson arrived in Cleveland after being accused of sexually assaulting approximately two dozen massage therapists. He served an 11-game suspension at the start of his Browns tenure.
The quarterback's arrival did not elevate the franchise. The Browns won eight games total in the two years after their 2023 playoff appearance. In June, the team traded Myles Garrett, who had just set the NFL single-season sacks record and won his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Garrett said he wanted to avoid another rebuilding project and did not want to be part of a team still searching for a quarterback more than four years after acquiring Watson.
Watson is now competing with Shedeur Sanders for the starting job, adding another layer to the team's instability.
