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Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and Malik Willis share the same agent.
The Cleveland Browns may miss out on a top free agent quarterback due to a link to Deshaun Watson.
The Browns are set to have Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel under contract for next season. But with new head coach Todd Monken, Cleveland will explore all its options as it seeks a long-term solution at quarterback.
“We’re going to do our work on the quarterback market. It’s too important of a position and it’s something that has to be solidified,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said at the end of the season, which the Browns finished 5-12. “I can’t sit here and tell you today, you know, whether the solution for or the starter in 2026 is internal or external.”
One name the Browns have on their radar is Malik Willis, who was recently named the top free agent available by Greg Rosenthal of NFL.com. However, the Browns may not be in the mix for Willis because he’s represented by the same agent as Watson.
“With Watson carrying an $80 million cap charge this season before it’s restructured again, the Browns don’t have a boatload of money to spend on another veteran. But at the age of 26, Willis could be their long-term answer, and worth the money,” Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com said. “One possible challenge is that he’s represented by Watson’s agent, David Mulugheta, who might not want them competing against each other.”
Cabot: Deshaun Watson Looks Like ‘Pro Bowl Self’
Watson is heading into the final year of the fully guaranteed $230 million contract he signed after being traded to the Browns in 2022. It’s his last shot to get his career on track after three uninspiring seasons in Cleveland.
Watson has gone 9-10 as the starter, missing time due to a lengthy suspension and multiple season-ending injuries. He missed all of last season recovering from two surgeries on his Achilles and hasn’t played a full season since 2020.
For Watson to stick around in the NFL beyond this season, he’ll have to prove he can still play. That said, Cabot said Watson has looked great since returning from his latest injury.
“In the case of Watson, who’s been fully cleared for all football activity since November, he started throwing in Florida earlier this month, and looks like his old Pro Bowl self,” Cabot said. “He also performed well during his three-week practice window in December when the Browns wanted to see how far he had come after his second Achilles repair in January of 2025. By some accounts, he was the most talented quarterback on the field, which included Sanders, their 2025 fifth-round pick and Dillon Gabriel, their third-round pick.”
Browns Intrigued by Deshaun Watson
As it stands, Watson will be in the conversation to be the starter in Cleveland next season. And Monken appears intrigued by the idea of trying to revive his Pro Bowl-level play.
“You’ve got two young players that still have a long way to go in terms of development, and that’s part of the learning curve in the NFL,” Monken said of Gabriel and Sanders. “And then you’ve got a player like Deshaun, who’s coming back from injury and at one time was a Pro Bowl player, and an elite player in this league, that we would love to tap back into that, let alone with Dillon and Shedeur.”
Watson is now multiple seasons and injuries removed from the last time he showed real upside. But Monken was hired to jump-start a Browns offense that was lifeless last year, as Cleveland averaged just 262.1 yards and 16.4 points per game.
J.R. DeGroote JR DeGroote is a staff writer for Heavy.com, where he has covered the NFL, NBA, and trending sports stories since 2019. His work focuses on some of the most passionate fanbases in sports, including reporting on the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers. More about J.R. DeGroote
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