Browns Linked to Pursuit of Deshaun Watson’s Old Teammate, $60 Million WR

The Cleveland Browns are in the market for a wide receiver this offseason, and while they’re looking for a proven entity with a high-end skill set, the organization also needs a player who is affordable enough to mitigate serious financial risk.

Finding established talent with something left to give at a premium position and on a team-friendly deal is one heck of a hard line to walk for any franchise, and if the Browns decide to attempt it there will be inherent risk involved. One name that might be worth a swing, however, is Mike Williams of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Williams, 29, suffered an ACL tear early in 2023 and played just three games last season. That said, he has amassed more than 4,800 receiving yards across his seven-year NFL career (83 games played) and has recorded two campaigns of 1,000-plus yards (2019, 2021), per Pro Football Reference.

NFL analyst Quincy Carrier spoke with Sports 4 CLE host Dave Bacon on Thursday, February 8, and asserted that Williams is the type of No. 2 option alongside Amari Cooper for whom Browns fans have long been waiting.

“Mike Williams, we’ve seen him produce,” Carrier said. “We’ve seen him kill the Cleveland Browns a couple of times.”

“The Browns are at a point to where they’re not trying to develop a talent to be another wide receiver for them,” he continued. “They just need somebody to step in and produce. And when that’s the case, you wanna go with somebody who you know can produce because they’ve done it before.”

Chargers WR Mike Williams Likely to Hit Market in March

The NFL offseason is a magical time of speculation, not all of it realistic. However, Williams isn’t some unattainable fantasy in Cleveland.

The team can open up approximately $33 million in space by pushing some of Deshaun Watson’s $64 million cap hit in 2024 down the line in the form of dead money. Cleveland can also open up space in the immediate by extending Cooper, who will otherwise count nearly $24 million against the cap next season.

But the Browns may not have to do all, or any, of that work to obtain Williams, despite the $32.5 million cap hit he represents in L.A. on the final year of his $60 million contract.

“Mike Williams is gonna be available,” Carrier said. “He has, I think, a $30 million cap hit that [the Chargers] are not gonna wanna go up against, and he just got an ACL injury. And I think he’s turning close to 28-to-30, or something like that. So yeah, they’re going to move on from him.”

Carrier mentioned the possibility of the Browns, or another franchise, trading for Williams. That, however, makes little sense when waiting for the Chargers to cut him over the summer will render the receiver far more affordable.

“I don’t think it would be that expensive … because he’s gonna be in one-year prove-it deal world,” Carrier said. “[Those are] the kind of deals that the Browns can give out right now — short-term, quick deals to these guys.”

Mike Williams Has Collegiate Connection to Browns QB Deshaun Watson

Williams makes sense in Cleveland on other levels as well. To start, he has a former relationship with Watson from when the two were collegiate teammates at Clemson.

“Williams also has a ton of experience with Deshaun Watson, won a national championship with him at Clemson, so he knows how to adjust to his play style,” Carrier said Thursday. “And I think if you wanna add familiarity for Deshaun Watson, it’s not just about the offensive concepts you run. It’s about some of the personnel as well.”

Beyond that, Carrier pointed out that Browns fans are fed up with the so-called promise of receivers and are looking for someone who has a legitimate track record to fall back on. Williams has that. And if injuries get in the way, Cleveland probably only needs to commit one year to bring him in anyway, which keeps the risk low — though doesn’t eliminate it.

“I think a lot of Browns fans are burnt out on betting on the ideal of certain wide receivers,” Carrier said. “We did it with Anthony Schwartz. We’ve done it with a couple of rookies. Then we did it with Elijah Moore. And I think people just want the productive wide receiver instead of the one that could be productive down the line if you’re just patient enough.”