They arrived within six months of each other, two stars summoned to Cleveland as franchise saviors and the final pieces necessary for a championship run. 

The Cavaliers packed their arena with employees and team personnel in September 2022 to welcome Donovan Mitchell at his introductory news conference. It was a signal both internally and across the NBA that the Cavs were contenders again. But six months earlier, when Deshaun Watson took the podium in March for an introductory news conference, it felt more like an interrogation than a Browns coronation.

Two years later, the Cavaliers and Browns are in far different spaces. 

Mitchell is the fuel that has propelled the Cavs to the best record in the NBA. Watson is the fuel for the biggest grease fire in the history of the sport.

Two franchises, two high-stakes gambles. Two drastically different results. The parallels and outcomes between these teams that play their home games just a mile apart provide a fascinating case study in the risk, reward and repercussions of what happens when teams get franchise-altering trades right and when they go horribly wrong. 

Both Mitchell and Watson were stars in the prime of their careers upon arriving. Now that Mitchell has committed to the Cavs for the foreseeable future with a contract extension and the Browns will be picking the shrapnel of Watson’s contract out of their skin for years to come, it’s worth looking back and asking: How did the Cavs get it right and the Browns get it so very wrong?

Both franchises emerged from tedious rebuilds believing they were one piece away. The Cavs reached the Play-In Tournament in 2022 but were eliminated without winning a game. It was a breakthrough of sorts after a four-year rebuild, but the franchise wasn’t ready to commit big money to restricted free agent Collin Sexton. It was fortunate Mitchell became available when he did. 

#Cavs G Donovan Mitchell linked up with #Browns QB Deshaun Watson pregame. pic.twitter.com/srEWnJA4gO

— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 8, 2024

Advertisement

The Browns won a playoff game with Baker Mayfield in 2020. With one year remaining on his deal, they were hesitant to pay him the type of $250 million to $300 million contract that other top quarterbacks were commanding at the time.

Mayfield was good, but he wasn’t great (despite any revisionist history). There were maturity concerns. He was extremely polarizing in the locker room. And when the game was in the balance, he rarely delivered.

Watson was a three-time Pro Bowler who led the league in passing in 2020. A quarterback of his caliber, in the prime of his career, hadn’t become available in a trade since Fran Tarkenton in the 1960s. But Watson came with more baggage than Delta: 24 civil lawsuits alleging various forms of sexual misconduct during massages. 

The fact the Cavs and Browns are led by executives in Koby Altman and Andrew Berry who are close acquaintances only adds another compelling layer to all of this. Each executive agreed to trade three first-round picks in his deal. Altman added key players, including Sexton, and two pick swaps to give the Utah Jazz control of the Cavs’  five drafts from 2025 to 2029. The Watson trade included six draft picks, which the Houston Texans used to help win the AFC South last year and beat the Browns in a playoff game. 

Franchise quarterbacks never, ever become available through trades in the prime of their careers. The price of obtaining one is worth whatever the cost. 

Would a quarterback-starved team desperate to win trade its next five first-round picks for Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes? How about six? 

There is no price too high. 

Had Mayfield not been up against a contract extension, maybe all of it ends differently for the Browns. An injury to his non-throwing shoulder only compounded his terrible 2021 season, but Mayfield struggled at times when he was healthy, too. 

Would the Browns be better off with Mayfield today over Watson? Of course, and that’s without including the three first-round picks they would have retained. But Mayfield needed to be humbled and needed to grow up. There’s no way of assuring that would’ve happened here. It occurred only because of his lousy play in Carolina and the fact he bounced around to four teams over two years. 

He has settled in nicely in Tampa and made a home for himself — on a $100 million contract that is still less than half of what the Browns would’ve had to commit to him at the time. 

See the difference? 

GO DEEPER

The Jameis Winston-led Browns offense is (almost) as bad as it was with Deshaun Watson

One of the great lessons to learn is how much character matters in trades of this magnitude. Mitchell arrived with no lawsuits hanging over him, no vile allegations of any kind. 

In fact, one of the first things he did was reach out to young stars such as Darius Garland to say he wasn’t arriving with the intention of taking over the locker room. Garland was coming off his first All-Star appearance. This was still his team, Mitchell told him. He was here to fit in and help where he could. 

It didn’t take long, of course, for Mitchell to emerge as the floor leader. But he didn’t move in on the first day and start rearranging the furniture and repainting the walls. It was an organic integration. He was a model teammate on the court and said publicly exactly what the Cavs needed from him as a leader of a young roster still trying to figure out how to win. 

Still, even the Mitchell trade came with enormous risk. There were the constant rumors about New York. Mitchell even acknowledged at his first press availability that he thought he was going home. He heard Cleveland emerge as a potential destination for about three days during the trade negotiations, then those whispers cooled again until the phone call telling him to pack his bags.

The Cavs were acutely aware of Mitchell’s desire to play in New York and traded for him anyway, believing two years was enough time to sell him on their franchise and a future in Cleveland. Winning a playoff series last season certainly helped. 

Any chance of Mitchell playing for the Knicks vanished when New York traded for OG Anunoby at the end of last December. When the Cavs flew to Paris in January for a game against the Brooklyn Nets, Mitchell made up his mind on the flight to France: He wanted to stay in Cleveland. 

There was no Wi-Fi on the flight, no movies to watch. Nothing for guys to do but sit around the plane and talk. Mitchell sat with his teammates, drank wine and laughed for six hours. He realized he had everything he needed in Cleveland. He signed a three-year, $150 million extension when free agency opened that will keep him tied to Cleveland through the 2026-27 season with a player option for the 2027-28 season.

Scoop City Newsletter

Advertisement

Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.

Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.

Sign Up

Had Mitchell refused to sign the extension, the Cavs would have been forced to trade him last summer. They could have recouped some value, but not nearly as much as what they paid to get him. The picks they owe Utah would just be starting to transfer and Mitchell wouldn’t even be here. The whole thing could’ve ended badly. Instead, as the Jazz continue to sputter around the bottom of the standings, the Cavs are the clear winners of the trade today. 

The Browns, meanwhile, insisted they did the background work on Watson before trading for him and were comfortable with what they found. Less than three months after the deal, The New York Times reported that Watson met with at least 66 women for massages over 17 months. 

The Browns had already signed him to a $230 million, fully guaranteed contract by that point and were beholden to him. They could never get in front of the scandals even before his play on the field began deteriorating.

The New York Times report was followed by an HBO special. Watson settled most of the cases against him while continuing to insist he did nothing wrong. Arbitrator Sue L. Robinson, a retired federal judge, ruled the NFL carried its burden to prove Watson, by a preponderance of the evidence, engaged in sexual assault as defined by the NFL. She even made note of Watson’s lack of remorse. It was a slow drip of information that never seemed to stop.

Even this year, another woman emerged claiming Watson forced her to have sex with him. That case also was settled out of court.

Nevertheless, the Browns continued to bend to Watson’s will. He grumbled about scripted plays. He made clear he wasn’t comfortable playing under center and preferred shotgun. And when Joe Flacco thrived in the same Kevin Stefanski system that Watson at times struggled to grasp, the Browns fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and broke an offense that didn’t need fixing. They overhauled the offensive staff and rebuilt their scheme to fit a quarterback who could no longer play at an elite level. 

The Browns will pay for their mistake for at least the next few years. While Watson has two years left on his contract, the Browns still must account for more than $170 million on their cap sheet. As of now, those numbers are stretched over the next three years. If they continue to restructure his deal and spread out the money, the Watson stain could linger even longer. Regardless of their exit strategy, it will include a fair amount of pain. 

Watson will likely be on the 53-man roster next year, but he won’t be on the field. One way or another, the Browns will yet again have a new starting quarterback.

Cleveland was the first team Watson eliminated. Of the four finalists willing to overlook his scandals and bring him in anyway, Watson was least interested in the Browns. But team executives never stopped pursuing him.

They ultimately got their wish. It has turned into a nightmare.

(Image: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos, from left, via Getty Images: Nick Cammett / Diamond Images; Brian Babineau / NBAE)

In January, Nick Saban sent shock waves through the college football landscape when he announced he would step away from the sidelines. Shortly after the legendary coach retired, Saban officially joined ESPN. 

While Saban works primarily as an analyst for the network’s long-running and popular pregame program, “College GameDay,” he also contributes to NFL Draft coverage and makes appearances on other ESPN shows and platforms. The last segment of an episode of “College GameDay” typically features a celebrity guest who offers their picks for some of the upcoming games.

On Friday, comedian Shane Gillis was tapped as the guest picker. But at one point during his appearance, one of the funnyman’s jokes seemed to irritate Saban.

During a discussion about the state of college football, Gillis cited the relatively new “parity” that exists in the sport. But during his remarks, Gillis also seemed to assert that either Saban or perhaps the Alabama football program as a whole orchestrated or turned a blind eye if players received improper payments.

ALABAMA AD CALLS ON FANS TO DONATE TO NIL COLLECTIVE TO STAY COMPETITIVE: ‘WE MUST RESPOND’

“This feels different, it feels like we can win it,” Gillis said. “There’s a parity, now that everybody can pay their players, Notre Dame has a shot. It’s not just the SEC, it’s not Coach Saban.” The seven-time national championship winning coach was not present when Gillis made the comments.

Comedian Shane Gillis is shown before the Indiana-Notre Dame game on Dec. 20, 2024, in South Bend, Ind. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

However, fellow ESPN college football analyst Pat McAfee eventually reminded Gillis about what he said.

“You called him a cheater earlier,” McAfee noted.

While Gillis said he made the comments in jest, Saban appeared to take offense to the suggestion that players were inappropriately compensated under his watch. 

“I was just joking around,” Gillis said. “I don’t think the SEC paid players. Ever. I’m joking. Is this not a fun show?”

Nick Saban speaks during ESPN’s “College GameDay,” Dec. 20, 2024, in South Bend, Ind. (MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Gillis eventually turned his attention to Saban’s attire, particularly the retired coach’s hat.

“Ol’ Alabama Jones is being serious,” Gillis joked in an apparent reference to the hat that has become synonymous with the fictional character Indiana Jones.

Saban then offered a straightforward response to Gillis’ joke concerning how he ran the Alabama program during his 17-year run.

“I do believe in integrity. I always tried to run the program that way so players had a better chance to be successful in life,” Saban said. “We make more money in the NFL than any other school, 61 players in the league. That was how we cheated. We developed players.”

Saban won six national titles during his storied tenure in Tuscaloosa. Before taking the head coaching job at Alabama, Saban led the LSU Tigers to the BCS National Championship Game after the 2003 regular season.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —  The florescent green cleats of Kyren Williams could be seen from space.

But it was the feet inside those shoes that set the tone Sunday in the Rams’ 19-9 victory over the New York Jets.

In this final stretch before the NFL playoffs, when the weather turns as bitter cold as it was at MetLife Stadium, it’s essential for teams to be able to run the football. Williams did that for the Rams, gaining 122 yards in 23 carries at a robust average of 5.3 yards a pop.

“It’s a security blanket,” Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein said. “There’s a ton of good rush fronts out there in the league, but to be able to run the ball and kind of dictate how we want to play offense because we can run the ball, that’s something that doesn’t just show up on game day. It’s something we work really hard on during the week.”

The numbers weren’t splashy. The highlights were sparse. But for the Rams to travel across the country for a 10 a.m. body-clock kickoff, with temperatures in the teens, this workmanlike win was a resounding statement: This team is capable of doing some damage in the playoffs.

Twenty-three carries is a full plate — the Rams only had a 50 offensive plays — but it was fewer than Williams had in his previous two games, when he had 29 and 29.

“Not quite 29,” coach Sean McVay quipped, “so he’s fresh.”

Fresh as the opportunities unfurling before the team. With the Rams winning, and Arizona losing at Carolina, the once-surging Cardinals have been eliminated from the playoff picture. They play the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday night, and figure to be less formidable with running back James Conner dealing with an apparent knee injury that sidelined him in the second half Sunday.

So the NFC West race comes down to the Rams and Seattle, who play in a season finale in Los Angeles. The Rams have the upper hand at this point, with a better record after the Seahawks lost to the Vikings on Sunday and already having won at Seattle.

Meanwhile, the Jets are a mess, not news to the thousands of disgruntled fans streaming to the MetLife exits throughout the second half.

They have fired their coach and general manager, and seem to have handed the decision-making to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who went for it on fourth down five times and converted two against the Rams.

According to ESPN, the Jets are the first team in 25 years to not punt in a game and still be held to fewer than 10 points.

What’s more, every one of their offensive linemen was flagged for a penalty, and there were six of those players since the Jets had to sub in a replacement for their injured left tackle. Dutifully, fill-in Max Mitchell checked the box with a false start just before the two-minute warning.

And to think the game began with such promise for the home team, the Jets assembling their first 99-yard scoring drive in eight years on their opening possession.

The Rams tightened the screws after that and surrendered only a field goal. Not to say it was a pristine defensive performance, though, as the tackling still needs to be better to increase the chance of survival in the postseason.

In many respects, it was a weird game that — thanks to all the running — glided by with the speed of time-lapse photography. The Rams were already in the fourth quarter while some teams were still waiting to start the second half.

The game went so quickly, in fact, that the NFL had to pump the brakes with commercials. The league doesn’t like to go commercial-kickoff-commercial, yet it had to do that three times in Rams-Jets in order to fill the three-hour window.

Rams Braden Fiske (55) and Jared Verse (8) converge to sack Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8).

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

The Jets had the ball for the final 6 minutes, 22 seconds of the first half, then — because they received the kickoff to start the second half — held it for the first 10 minutes of the third quarter.

“I was like, ‘I haven’t played football in 30 minutes,’” Havenstein said. “This wasn’t the game to get tight out there. You ain’t gonna get warmed up any time.”

That was definitely the feeling on the visitors’ sideline.

“We were huddled up against that heater on the sideline, that’s all you could do,” Rams guard Kevin Dotson said. “We’re not used to it. It was like 12 degrees, 13, and it seemed to get even colder at the end. I’m from Louisiana, so I’m thin-skinned. That cold is different.

“As offensive linemen they tell you, ‘Don’t wear sleeves.’ I gotta wear sleeves. I won’t be the same person if I don’t wear sleeves. I put my sleeves on and just go hard enough where they can’t say, ‘Oh, he’s soft.’”

The strong performance on the ground was a testament not only to Williams but also to a stalwart Rams offensive line that only recently has come together as intended with the starters all getting healthy (enough) to operate in lockstep.

As for those bright green shoes Williams was wearing? They were the Nike Vapor Edge Kobe “Grinch” cleats, an homage to one of his all-time favorite athletes.

Grinch makes sense. For the Jets, he unquestionably stole Christmas.