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5 NFL teams on the brink of falling apart in the 2023 offseason

By Sayre Bedinger

NFL 2023: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers reacts towards head coach Matt LaFleur during the second quarter of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
NFL 2023: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers reacts towards head coach Matt LaFleur during the second quarter of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) /
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NFL 2023: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns throws the ball during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on January 08, 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) /

3. Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns moved on from defensive coordinator Joe Woods in the 2023 offseason, replacing him with longtime defensive expert Jim Schwartz. It seems like Cleveland fans are excited about that and weren’t upset to see Woods go. So the Cleveland defense could take a step forward in 2023, but what about the offense?

The offense.

Led by Deshaun Watson, who simply looked bad at the end of the 2023 season, it’s really tough to know what you’re going to get out of Cleveland’s offense in 2023. Is Watson going to be able to return to the form he once showed as a potential MVP candidate in this league?

There was once a time when people felt like Watson was legitimately in the conversation as possibly being among the elite quarterbacks in the game, but there are major concerns with this guy right now. Watson has torn both ACLs in his football career (2014 at Clemson, 2017 in Houston), he has ongoing off-field issues, and his play in 2023 was poor. It may have been reasonable to expect some rust from him given the circumstances but Watson’s contract is an albatross and it’s fully guaranteed.

That’s $230 million, fully guaranteed.

Watson is set to count almost $55 million against the Browns’ cap this year and every year for the next four seasons. There’s no way out of that, and the only way to get flexibility there is to kick the can down the road.

I’m sure Browns GM Andrew Berry has a plan but the plan has to involve Deshaun Watson and that makes me wonder if the Browns are a team on the cusp of disaster.

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