"It can be more significant than that" - Former NFL QB believes Deshaun Watson can be more influential for Browns than Matthew Stafford has been for Rams
After many years of soul searching, the Cleveland Browns have their franchise quarterback after acquiring quarterback Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans. There have been many quarterback trades since the last off-season, which was undoubtedly one of the bigger ones.
Browns and Texans still are finalizing official trade compensation for Deshaun Watson, but it is expected to include three first-round picks, a third-round pick and potentially a fifth-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.
Five picks for Watson.
Former NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck said on Get Up that the Browns getting Watson could be more significant than when the Rams acquired quarterback Matthew Stafford from the Lions.
Hasselbeck said:
"In some ways it can be more significant than that. I guess it's funny to say that considering the Rams just won the Super Bowl, but Matthew Stafford, in fairness, kind of an up and down season for him prior to the postseason with how things worked out. Deshaun Watson I don't think you can argue him out of being a top seven quarterback in the NFL like you know and oftentimes I think it's easy to say he's a top five quarterback. And he's that talented. He's been that good. And so because of that now you add them to a team. That has a really good defense. They've got a great runner, they've got a good offensive line. They just acquired a good talented wide receiver."
Hasselbeck added that adding Watson as their new quarterback is a vast improvement for the team:
"It's a really good football team and Kevin Stefanski is an excellent coach. And so now you're adding a guy that is a top tier quarterback to that team. Think of what an improvement in this it basically swapping out at the most important position in all of sports for a guy that really no one was positive could play at a starter level like that's what they've just done. So, you know, we can speculate about all the off the field stuff and you know, the time that is potentially going to be missed, but if you just looking at it from a football perspective, the team got significantly better by adding one of the best quarterbacks in football."
Matthew Stafford won a Super Bowl in his first year in LA with the Rams
If Hasselbeck is right with Watson being more influential for the Browns than Stafford is in LA, he will have to have a lot of success early on.
Matt Stafford's career resume:
- Super Bowl 56 Champ
- 2014 Pro Bowl
- 2011 NFL CPOY
- 2012 NFL CMP (435) leader
- 3x NFL GWD leader; Most (8) in 1 season ever
- #Lions career PASS YDS (45,109) & PASS TD (282) leader
- #Rams season PASS YDS (4,885) leader
https://t.co/X3YZZWtMwu
It's one thing to turn the franchise around in Cleveland, but it's another thing to bring championships. Watson missed all of last season and hasn't played in 2020. Unlike Stafford, he wasn't put in the best position to win now, and he'll be faced with a lot of pressure following his new lucrative deal that gives him the most guaranteed money in NFL history.