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Paul DePodesta brought his analytical strategies and experience to the Cleveland Browns in 2016 when he was named the franchise’s chief strategy officer.
DePodesta began a new chapter last week when he was named president of baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies.
He is familiar with MLB, having previously worked for the then-Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics and New York Mets. DePodesta also spent a few seasons as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Amid his return to the MLB front office, DePodesta reflected on one of the most notable moves he helped orchestrate during his time with the Browns: the blockbuster trade for Deshaun Watson.
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Cleveland Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, left, talks with manager and senior partner Jimmy Haslam before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at FirstEnergy Stadium on Aug. 21, 2022 in Cleveland. (Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports)
Watson has appeared in just 19 games in the three years since he signed a record-breaking, fully guaranteed $230 million contract shortly after the Houston Texans agreed to send him to Cleveland in 2022. All 32 games Watson missed were due to suspension or injury.
BROWNS’ DESHAUN WATSON ADDRESSES CRITICISM AND PROMISES TO RETURN FROM LATEST INJURY ‘MUCH BETTER THAN BEFORE’
The decision continues to face criticism, with many seeking to place blame on one or more of the Browns’ decision makers. DePodesta offered some context, recalling the decision to trade for Watson as a collective choice.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, center, poses for a portrait with general manager Andrew Berry, left, and coach Kevin Stefanski during Watson’s introductory press conference on March 26, 2022, at the Browns training facility in Berea, Ohio. (Jeff Lange/USA TODAY Network/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
“This is what I would say, and I really believe it,” DePodesta told the Denver Post. “I think most decisions, especially big ones like that, are organizational decisions, right? I don’t believe in the ‘Scout King’ situation where there’s one person making every call… The jobs are too complex, the decisions are too difficult. They impact a lot of different things. So I always think that in these types of collective decisions it can be difficult to achieve unanimity. [opinions] about that kind of thing. Everyone who was part of that? We all own that. “We just do it, that’s part of the deal.”
Cleveland Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta walks onto the field before a game at FedEx Field on October 2, 2016, in Landover, Maryland. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
The NFL suspended Watson for 11 games in 2022, but a shoulder injury shortened the quarterback’s season in 2023. Last October, Watson was sidelined with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Watson then re-injured the same tendon in January. The latest setback has sidelined the three-time Pro Bowler for this entire season so far, but Watson objected to that timeline.
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“Everyone doubts me. Not everyone believes in me,” Watson said in a video posted to her Instagram account in April of her exercising. “Everyone doesn’t believe I can go back to where I was. But I know, and I believe in the work that I did, that I believe in myself… I know that I will be much better than before.”
The 30-year-old added to his comeback argument that he doesn’t “have much to lose.”
Watson has thrown 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in a Browns uniform. He finished his five-year stint with the Texans with 104 touchdowns against 36 interceptions.
Those impressive numbers came in just four seasons on the football field. Watson was ruled out of all games during the 2021 season following a trade request, ultimately leading to a confrontation between the quarterback and the team.
