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The Cleveland Browns announced this week that Deshaun Watson was going to miss the rest of the season after having surgery to fix his injured shoulder. The Browns also announced their starting quarterback for the Week 11 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With both PJ Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson contending for the starting role, most assumed that the veteran Walker would be the one to step in and fill the role left by Deshaun Watson.
As it turns out, the Browns decided to go in a different direction, and former NFL player Marcus Spears isn't exactly thrilled with the idea.
Marcus Spears gives thoughts on Browns' Deshaun Watson replacement
The Browns needed to make a decision now that Watson was out for the season. Start veteran PJ Walker, who has shown some promise as a starter this season, or go with Thompson-Robinson, who is younger. They decided on the younger Thompson-Robinson.
However, Spears believed that Walker would give the Browns a better chance of winning games. Spears said on NFL Live:
“I don't like it because I don't know what I don't know and let me admit that the last time I saw Dorian Thompson-Robinson he threw three interceptions. He was 19 for 36 against the Baltimore Ravens. So, there is a week of preparation, there is an opportunity to build and formulate something around him but why wouldn't you do that with PJ Walker?
"One thing, does he offer some athleticism that is not offered by PJ Walker? and we all talk all the time about does that slow down your processing for a quarterback and we know that you can get yourself out of harms way, but I thought it was a no-brainer that PJ Walker was going to be the starter.”
Deshaun Watson is getting backlash after season-ending injury
The trade that brought Watson to the Browns was eye-opening, as was his five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract. But with the news of his shoulder injury that will put him out for the year, the trade looks even worse.
As Ari Meirov points out, since 2020, Watson has played just 12 games for the Browns, and after they invested so much salary cap and draft capital, the trade is looking worse and worse with each passing day.
So it hasn't exactly been the best of trades, and now that Watson is out of the season, the Browns have to yet again move forward without him.
