Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the now 1-6 Browns home loss to the Bengals on Sunday, the team confirmed Monday. With the Achilles ruptured as feared, that means that for a second consecutive season, he will play in fewer than eight games for Cleveland.

Before Watson went down with the painful pop, he was not playing well. He was No. 41 in passer rating among all QBs going into Week 7 at 76.6. He was dead last in qualifying QBs in ESPN QBR at 22.0. On Pro Football Focus, he was graded 26th.

He was a big reason for the Browns’ overall struggles, leading the No. 30 scoring offense. But the Browns’ coaches felt compelled to keep playing him because of his contract that pays him $230 million in guaranteed money.

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Now there’s no choice. The Browns need to go with either Dorian Thompson-Robinson or Jameis Winston as their starting QB the rest of the way in a lost year. Given the injury happened at midseason, this should further prompt Cleveland officials to target Watson’s longer-term replacement in the first round of the 2025 draft.

Watson won’t play another down in 2024, but in the big picture, will Sunday be the last time he plays in the NFL for the Browns or anyone else? Here are three reasons to believe that can be the case.

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1. Deshaun Watson isn’t a very durable QB anymore

Watson, because of his sexual assault allegations stemming from his time with the Texans before being traded to the Browns, was suspended for the first 11 games of 2022. He came back very rusty and not close to his playing shape for the final six games, looking like a shell of the QB in Houston who started almost every game from 2018-20 before sitting out the entire 2021 season.

Watson managed to make only another six starts in 2023 before suffering a broken bone in his right throwing shoulder that required surgery. Although recovered in time to start in Week 1 this season against the Cowboys, Watson showed an erratic and inaccurate passing arm, especially on throws deeper downfield, which once was a strength with the Texans.

Whether residual of the shoulder injury or not, Watson didn’t look from the start and hasn’t gotten better. He also didn’t get any willing support with routes and hands from often reliable top wide receiver Amari Cooper, which led to the latter getting out of Cleveland and being traded to Buffalo last week.

Watson also has a torn ACL in his past from his rookie season. He recovered well from that, but he was much younger than. Now he’s 29, and the major ailments have piled up with compound effect.

2. Deshaun Watson’s off-field risk now far outweighs his on-field reward

Watson still hasn’t shook the stigma of what he did to violate the league’s personal conduct policy in 2022. The Browns’ fans were once excited about his prospects to change their QB fortunes for good. Now, they ruing the fact the team sent Baker Mayfield packing after Cleveland acquired Watson.

Cleveland fans have seen enough of Watson in parts of three seasons and have voiced their displeasure. They at least had his Houston promise early. Now he’s become damaged goods that has little appeal for another franchise, given there will be more reason for backlash. The Browns also will hard-pressed going back to a healthy Watson in 2025, especially when he’s signed through only 2026.

3. Deshaun Watson won’t be appealing as a willing backup, either

Watson has been a starter his whole career. He doesn’t have the makeup to extend his career as a veteran No. 2. The league is also getting smarter about targeting rookie quarterbacks, and the volume of viable options will grow en masse in the draft from surefire starters to intriguing developmental types.

Three seasons is an eternity in the NFL when a lot of teams cycle through quarterbacks. Watson will be coming off major injury physically and will be a rough place mentally after his bumpy tenure with the Browns. 

Watson was a supernova from the same draft class as Patrick Mahomes. Unfortunately, he’s become a fast-falling star whose once bright light is headed to go out for good.