Browns' Deshaun Watson takes major step in latest Achilles injury return update

Billy Heyen

Browns' Deshaun Watson takes major step in latest Achilles injury return update image

The Cleveland Browns have a lot of quarterbacks, but this preseason, that discussion hasn't even included their highest-paid QB.

That's Deshaun Watson, the guy returning from a season-ending Achilles injury sustained late in the 2024 season.

On Monday, Watson shared a big update on his Instagram Story. He's running.

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When Watson went down at the end of last season, it was assumed he'd miss the entire 2025 campaign.

In the spring, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted the Watson trade and contract amounted to a big "swing and a miss."

But as the summer has gone on, there have been whispers that Watson could rehab in time to be ready to play QB in Cleveland in 2025.

That'd add quite the additional wrench to an already complicated quarterback equation for Kevin Stefanski to solve.

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It's extra tricky because Watson simply hasn't been good in his time with the Browns.

He has a 9-10 record as Cleveland's starter with a mediocre 19:12 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

He's been nothing like the QB he was in Houston before his off-field issues.

The Browns ended up with a player who made way more headlines for his mistakes away from the football field than for his play on it.

And now, he seemed to be out of sight and mind for this season.

But if Watson is intent on getting back, it'll make things quite interesting at the end of the Browns' season, even if their record is bad at that point.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle