NFL NEWS

DESHAUN WATSON ISN’T WORRIED ABOUT HOW HE’S PERCEIVED AS HE COMPETES FOR BROWNS’ STARTING JOB

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Deshaun Watson knows he can’t change the public perception of him or the results of his first four seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

That’s why the embattled 10-year veteran quarterback is focusing on winning back the Browns’ starting job, something that seemed unfathomable a year ago, when Watson was recovering from tearing Achilles tendon twice and it appeared he would never play for Cleveland again.

“At the end of the day, I can’t control what people support. I think that’s their own opinion,” Watson said Wednesday, speaking to reporters for the first time in nearly two years. “I think that all I can do is just put out the best person I am, showcase who I am as a person, as a player, as a teammate, and what I represent as an individual. So outside of that, I can’t focus on what the outside is saying.”

If Watson is named the starter for the Browns’ opener on Sept. 13 at Jacksonville, it will be 693 days between starts. His last game was in Week 7 of the 2024 season against the Cincinnati Bengals, when he ruptured his right Achilles tendon during the second quarter on a draw play.

Watson tore the tendon again two months later and was declared out for the 2025 season. Owner Jimmy Haslam said during last year’s owners meetings that the Browns “took a big swing and miss” when they sent three first-round picks to Houston for Watson in 2022 and signed him to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal that could end up as the worst contract in NFL history.

Despite Haslam’s proclamation, Watson still believed he would get another chance after conversations with the front office, Haslam and his wife and co-owner, Dee.

“The relationship is great. Dee and Jimmy were at my wedding. We talk all the time. He calls me whenever,” Watson said.

Watson and Sanders remain in tight competition for the starting job

Watson and Shedeur Sanders have appeared evenly matched during offseason workouts. Coach Todd Monken had hoped to name a starter before training camp, but said, “Both played well enough to earn the right to compete to start.”

Watson likes Monken’s system because it resembles what he played under during his five seasons with the Houston Texans from 2017 to 2021.

“It’s a lot of responsibility on the quarterback, and I think that’s what I had in Houston with Bill O’Brien. It was pretty much that Tom Brady tree and everything relied on the quarterback operation,” Watson said. “He’s given a lot of responsibility to us, and you’ve got to own the responsibilities, situations, and decisions on the field. That’s something I’m very comfortable with.”

When asked about the quarterback competition, Sanders downplayed any indication that there is one.

“I think the way y’all look at things is different than how we look at things,” Sanders said. “Y’all look at it as like a competition. That’s really nothing I’m just focused on. I’m focused on developing as a player, like doing everything, getting as comfortable as I can in the offense in the scheme, and playing with that confidence I had.”

Now a married man, Watson says he has changed his life

No matter what happens during training camp and the upcoming season, Watson said he’s in a great place mentally. He credits his wife, Jilly Anais, whom he married last July, for the change in outlook.

“I think the biggest thing is, I’m an introvert now, so I don’t really get into all the outside stuff and noise as I used to,” he said. “I used to be a social person back in the day and kind of more open, but now I’m just kind of watching my surroundings and my moves and just kind of focus on the things that I need to focus on.”

Watson’s biggest focus going into the season is playing all 17 games. In 2022, he missed the first 11 games because of a league suspension resulting from his alleged sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. He made six starts in 2023 before a season-ending shoulder injury and started seven last year before the Achilles tendon injury.

Watson is 9-10 with Cleveland with 19 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and an 80.7 passer rating.

“I can’t look in the past. I can’t look in the rearview mirror. Obviously, you know those situations, and you have those experiences, but at the same time, you’ve got to keep pushing forward. If I keep stepping forward and standing 10 toes down, then I’ll be good,” he said.

=====

DOLPHINS AGREE TO A 3-YEAR EXTENSION WITH CENTER AARON BREWER, AP SOURCE SAYS

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins and veteran center Aaron Brewer have agreed to a three-year contract extension, a person familiar with the deal said Wednesday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Dolphins had not announced the extension or financial details.

Brewer’s deal is worth $52.5 million with $37 million guaranteed, per Spotrac.com. According to the website, Brewer’s average salary of $17.5 million through 2029 makes him the third-highest-paid center in the NFL behind Las Vegas’ Tyler Linderbaum ($27 million) and Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey ($18 million).

Brewer, an undrafted free agent out of Texas State in 2020, has started 33 games for Miami over the past two seasons and earned second-team All-Pro honors last season. He was also a finalist for the NFL’s inaugural Protector of the Year award given to the league’s best offensive lineman.

He was in the final year of his deal and was set to make $1.22 million in 2026.

ESPN first reported the extension.

Brewer, 28, played his first four NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans before signing with Miami in 2024.

A captain and respected veteran in Miami’s young locker room, he participated in the Dolphins’ offseason program despite contract negotiations.

“I know one way to go about things and that’s work and keep my head down and keep doing that,” Brewer said during minicamp. “So that’s what I come out here and do every day, lead the guys. I hope to be here for the long run, so I’m trying to pour everything in me into everyone around me and make us the best team we can be.”

The Dolphins recently signed Pro Bowl running back De’Von Achane to a four-year contract extension worth $64 million, and they are expected to get a deal done with veteran linebacker Jordyn Brooks during the offseason.

=====

A THIRD-GENERATION RYAN IS COACHING THE JETS, BUT ON OFFENSE AND WITHOUT THE BRAVADO

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Seth Ryan made no Super Bowl guarantees or any other headline-worthy declarations.

The son of Rex Ryan is off to a much quieter start to his New York Jets coaching career than his often brash, bold and boisterous father, who was the face — and voice — of the franchise as the head coach from 2009 to 2014.

“We’re gonna do the best that we can,” a smiling Seth Ryan said Wednesday. “That’s what you’re getting from me.”

It’s not exactly like father, like son. Or even like grandfather, like grandson in the case of Ryan, whose late grandad Buddy was the defensive line coach on the Jets’ Super Bowl-winning squad in 1969.

Seth Ryan, now 32 and the third generation of a coaching family to be on the sideline for the Jets, called an audible a few years ago. While Buddy, Rex and even uncle Rob made their names in the NFL as defensive whizzes, Seth decided on another coaching path.

“In my family, we have kind of a saying with all the coaches,” he said. “So my grandfather told my dad, ‘I need you to be a little bit better than me.’ My dad told me, ‘I need you to be better than me.’

“So I chose offense to make sure that was gonna happen.”

Ryan and Glenn are excited to work together again

Ryan was hired by coach Aaron Glenn in February to be the Jets’ pass game coordinator, working closely with offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave.

Glenn was familiar with Ryan from their four years together in Detroit, where Glenn was the defensive coordinator and Ryan the assistant wide receivers coach. After Glenn overhauled his Jets coaching staff during the offseason, he reached out to Ryan, who was the Lions’ assistant tight ends coach last season.

“The possibility of getting on his staff was something I’ve been wanting to do and was so thankful I got the call,” Ryan said. “I love AG. I love what he’s doing and what he is building here and something that aligns with my core values.”

And he couldn’t wait to let his father know where he was heading.

“I won’t repeat exactly what he said,” Ryan said with a big laugh. “But there was a lot of excitement and he was like, ‘Man, I can’t wait for you to be there and hopefully help turn this around and help be a part of that.”

Ryan returns to the fields he roamed as a kid

Ryan is now roaming the same halls his father once strolled. And he’s back on the fields on which he once ran as a kid while the Rex Ryan-led Jets were making consecutive trips to the AFC championship game.

“I’m not blind to the fact how much this really means to myself and my family,” Seth Ryan said. “This is an organization I’ve been trying to get to for my career and I grew up here, went to high school in Summit, my wife is from Jersey. You know, this means a lot to our family.”

The Jets haven’t been to the playoffs in 15 seasons, dating to the last of those two AFC championship game runs in January 2011. Rex Ryan interviewed last year for the job that eventually was given to Glenn, hoping to come back to the franchise and return it to the postseason. Instead, he’ll get the chance to watch his son try to help do so.

“It would be really unbelievable because I was here (for) those AFC championship seasons,” Seth Ryan said. “And I got to be on the field for that and I saw what the fans were like and how amazing it really was, the stadium atmosphere and just the energy around the team. So that’s something I hope to build and replicate here.”

Ryan was a role player in college before turning to coaching

Ryan was a walk-on and backup wide receiver for four seasons at Clemson and was on Dabo Swinney’s College Football Playoff national championship-winning squad in January 2017. He was the holder on field goals and extra points and played special teams.

While playing in the NFL was never a realistic possibility, coaching seemed a given because of his bloodlines and hunger to learn the game.

His first opportunity came in 2017 as a coaching intern for the Chargers under then-coach Anthony Lynn, who was previously an assistant on Rex’s staff with the Jets. Ryan became an offensive quality control coach in 2019 and worked a bit with current Jets quarterback Geno Smith, who was a backup at the time.

After Lynn was fired after the 2020 season, he went to Detroit to be the Lions’ offensive coordinator — and took Seth with him.

“I mean, it’s all I’ve known,” Ryan said. “I grew up in it with my dad, he grew up with it with my grandfather. It’s all I’ve ever known. So this is just, you know, this is normal for us.

“And so I’m glad that I can still be representing the Ryan family in the NFL.”

=====

BRONCOS, SEAN PAYTON AGREE TO 5-YEAR DEAL THROUGH 2030

Sean Payton agreed to terms Thursday on a new five-year contract with the Denver Broncos that spans through the 2030 season.

The deal replaces the final two years Payton, 62, had remaining on his existing deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Sean Payton has led an impressive turnaround over the past three seasons, instilling a winning culture with high expectations,” Broncos owner Greg Penner said in a news release. “I appreciate the close partnership he shares with (general manager) George Paton, along with the alignment and stability across our football operations.

“We’re thrilled for Sean to continue leading our team as head coach, building on our progress during such an exciting time for the Broncos.”

Payton guided the Broncos to a 14-3 record and an appearance in the AFC Championship Game last season. He is 32-19 during his three seasons at the helm in Denver.

The Broncos acquired Payton from the New Orleans Saints in 2023. Denver traded a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and a second-round selection in 2024 to New Orleans. The Broncos received a third-round pick in 2024 to complete that deal.

The new five-year contract links Payton and Paton through the 2030 season. Paton, who signed his deal in May, joined Denver as the GM in 2021 after 14 seasons in the Minnesota Vikings’ front office (2007-20).

Payton spent 15 seasons as the head coach of the Saints (2006-11, 2013-21), highlighted by a Super Bowl XLIV title during the 2009 season. He also was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 2006.

Payton owns a 184-108 record as the head coach of the Saints and Broncos. His win total is second only to Kansas City’s Andy Reid (279) among active NFL coaches.

About The Author

troyderengowski61@gmail.com

See author's posts