Cleveland Browns out of running to trade for Deshaun Watson, now face decision on Baker Mayfield, source says

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns were informed Thursday that they are no longer in the running to land Deshaun Watson in a trade with the Houston Texans, a team source told ESPN.

Browns met with Watson on Tuesday in Houston and attempted to convince the quarterback to waive his no-trade clause to play for them. But Watson instead eliminated the Browns from contention, leaving the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons as the remaining known contenders for Watson for the moment.

Watson did not play last season following an offseason request to be traded and the emergence of 22 civil lawsuits against him alleging sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. But a Texas grand jury declined to indict Watson on criminal charges last Friday, signaling the end of criminal proceedings related to him in Harris County and kickstarting trade talks between the Texans and interested teams.

The Saints made multiple moves earlier Thursday to absorb Watson's $35 million salary in a potential trade, a source told ESPN's Field Yates, restructuring the contracts of quarterback Taysom Hill, defensive backs Bradley Roby and Malcolm Jenkins and linebacker Demario Davis to leave the team with $29.9 million in cap space.

Watson's decision puts the Browns in a complicated predicament with incumbent quarterback Baker Mayfield. As Cleveland officials were flying back from the Watson meeting Tuesday night, Mayfield posted a statement on social media thanking the city of Cleveland and its fans «who truly embraced who I am.»

«With many uncertainties, here is where my head and heart is,» Mayfield wrote as an introduction to his message, which he addressed to Cleveland and posted to his Instagram and Twitter