According to a report, the Browns fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt due to quarterback Deshaun Watson.
In January, the Cleveland Browns made a sudden and abrupt decision to fire offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Weeks later, the rationale behind the decision became evident.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated appeared on the Friday, February 2 broadcast of the “Zolak and Bertrand Show” from Boston, where Van Pelt will be the New England Patriots’ next offensive coordinator.
During the radio hit, Breer delivered two important pieces of news to Cleveland. The first was that Deshaun Watson was the reason the front management fired Van Pelt, with the quarterback’s lack of growth over the previous two years serving as a sticking point. The
He was let go in Cleveland because ownership and [chief strategic officer] Paul DePodesta, not [head coach] Kevin Stefanski, were dissatisfied with Deshaun Watson’s improvement. I don’t think the folks who made that decision understood [Van Pelt’s] importance to that team. He was fired for two reasons, which surprised his coworkers.
Number one question: how do you fire the offensive coordinator after winning 11 games with four different quarterbacks, your fourth and fifth tackles, and without Nick Chubb?
However, the other reason is far more important. He was the staff’s unifying force. [Stefanski], if you know him, is a wonderful person, but he is not the most outgoing. His personality is really dry. He has a nice sense of humor, but he isn’t this outgoing guy. Alex was the one who kept the staff together while guys were coming out and coming in. He was a unifying factor in the building.
To be fair to the Browns and their decision to fire Van Pelt, Watson hasn’t played well in the past two seasons. To be fair to Van Pelt, the quarterback hasn’t played much, and the opportunities for him to advance have been limited.
Cleveland surrendered the farm to acquire Watson, trading three first-round selections to the Houston Texans in a 2022 transaction. The Browns then gave Watson $230 million in fully guaranteed money, despite the fact that the quarterback had not played a regular-season snap in a year and was facing an almost certain suspension from the NFL for his off-field behavior.
That suspension lasted 11 games, during which Watson’s ability to practice with the club was severely hampered. He returned for the remaining six games of the season and was mainly unimpressive, completing 58.2% of his throws for 1,102 yards, seven touchdowns, and five interceptions in six starts (3-3), according to Pro Football Reference.
Cleveland started the following season on a better note, going 5-1 with Watson at quarterback. However, he exited a game due to injury after only a few passes. Overall, Watson completed 61.4% of his passes for 1,115 yards, seven touchdowns, and four interceptions. In other words, he was the same middling-to-bad performer during the majority of his six starts in 2023 as he was the previous year.
A shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery in November influenced Watson’s play to some extent, but he was terrible before that injury as well, and missing the final two months of the season hampered Van Pelt’s ability to re-develop Watson even more.
