Does Deshaun Watson have a future in Cleveland, the NFL? - ESPN

CLEVELAND BROWNS CO-OWNER Jimmy Haslam was seated next to his wife and fellow owner, Dee Haslam, at an oval table in a conference room at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, last week.

Surrounded by a group of local reporters attending the NFL's annual meetings, the Haslams spoke publicly for the first time since the Browns' 3-14 season, which landed them the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft. Jimmy Haslam lamented what he called a «disappointing» season while also expressing «high confidence» in the two men charged with making the franchise's most crucial decisions — coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry.

But when pressed to defend the duo's track record, one playoff win in two postseason appearances over five seasons, Haslam pivoted to what he called the «elephant in the room»: The team's momentous trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.

«We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun,» he said. «We thought we had the quarterback; we didn't. And we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him, so we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole.

»… [The trade] was an entire organization decision, and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable."

Haslam's comments regarding the Watson trade last week were the first public acknowledgements from anyone in the organization that the transaction has failed. Three years after trading a trio of first-round picks to the Houston Texans and giving Watson an NFL-record five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract, Cleveland is searching for his replacement, which it could find in April's draft. The Browns are mulling the decision to take one of the top quarterbacks in the class — a move that, if successful, could rescue them from the Watson trade, or return them to their