Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (3/19/22)

Cleveland Browns:

• Deshaun Watson changes mind, will join Cleveland Browns in trade with Houston Texans (Beacon Journal) - Deshaun Watson is running a reverse to Cleveland. In a stunning turn of events, Watson decided Friday to waive the no-trade clause in his contract and join the Browns, a person familiar with the situation said, confirming an ESPN report. The Browns will send three first-round picks (one in each of the next three drafts), a 2023 third-round selection and a 2024 fourth-round choice to the Texans for Watson and a 2024 fifth-round pick, a source said.
• Browns’ huge gamble with Deshaun Watson oozes desperation (Terry Pluto) - The Cleveland Browns are bringing Deshaun Watson to Cleveland. That’s shocking enough, given how Watson originally turned down the Browns. But this?
• ‘It was just very insulting’: Inside Baker Mayfield’s falling out with the Cleveland Browns (ESPN) - The Cleveland Browns had gone 635 days without a victory before quarterback Baker Mayfield’s arrival. Their futility had become such a punch line that Bud Light promised free beer in Cleveland if the Browns ever won again. In his debut, Mayfield delivered that win, unlocking beer fridges across Cleveland’s bars while giving the city hope for a football savior. One who appears on his way out of town.
• Cleveland Browns’ trade for Deshaun Watson underscores cold, hard reality (NFL.com) - Deshaun Watson has hovered like a ghost over the NFL for more than a year, ever-present but almost entirely unseen and unheard. With a January 2021 trade demand shortly followed by scores of sexual misconduct allegations stemming from massage therapy sessions, one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks abruptly entered a bizarre, unsettling exile. Now the Browns will host his re-entry into the league, as Watson chose Cleveland as his trade destination on Friday — a surprising development, considering the Browns had been informed that they were eliminated from consideration just one day prior. The payoff for the Browns could be enormous. The message sent by this portion of Watson’s life and career arc is pretty big, too.

NFL:

• What the Texans got from the Browns in the trade for Deshaun Watson (Houston Chronicle) - There’s not a good comparison for this deal, because it’s unlike any in NFL history.
• Fletcher Cox returning to Eagles on one-year contract (Bleeding Green Nation) - The latest from NFL Network indicates that Fletcher Cox’s return to the Philadelphia Eagles could be officially finalized early next week.
• Seahawks release defensive linemen Carlos Dunlap, Kerry Hyder (ESPN) - The Seattle Seahawks released Carlos Dunlap and Kerry Hyder on Friday as they continue to transform their defensive line. That transformation will also include the addition of former Seahawk Quinton Jefferson, who told NFL reporter Josina Anderson that he’s agreed with Seattle on a two-year, $9.5 million deal that can be worth up to $11 million.
• JuJu Smith-Schuster leaves Steelers to sign with Chiefs (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) - JuJu Smith-Schuster, one of the most popular Steelers players, is signing with the Kansas City Chiefs. For the second time in as many years, Smith-Schuster will play on a one-year contract. ESPN is reporting his salary will be $10.75 million.