Did Browns owners fall too hard for Deshaun Watson?

The Cleveland Browns are lovable losers no more, but not for reasons they’d embrace.

Lovable has been replaced by loathsome, say critics who include a former Browns executive, now-former team fans and pundits in Northeast Ohio.

The Browns finally got themselves a star at quarterback, a spot where they’ve wobbled for most of the Super Bowl era (notwithstanding brief stretches such as the 1980 MVP season by Brian Sipe, an East County product and San Diego State alum).

But, the same splashy trade has angered many football lovers across a broad spectrum.

No one disputes Deshaun Watson represents a big upgrade over Baker Mayfield and other recent Browns QBs. Watson, 26, earned three Pro Bowl berths in his three years as the Houston Texans’ main starter.

What has earned the Browns the ongoing backlash is they gave Watson an NFL-record amount for fully guaranteed money, even as he faced accusations from nearly two dozen women of sexual misconduct or sexual assault. Watson has not been charged with any crimes, but he is facing civil lawsuits from the 22 women.

Only Watson and his accusers, who are massage therapists, know what transpired between them. Does it make sense that all 22 women are wrong? That an NFL player would entrust his bodily care to so many therapists?

Not only did the Browns guarantee Watson $230 million — a sum $80 million more than the record-deal QB Aaron Rodgers got from the Green Bay Packers this month — they structured the terms to shield Watson from significant financial loss if the NFL, as expected, suspends him from games this year.

A former Browns leader railed against that maneuver.

“The Browns actually became co-conspirators in finding a way for Watson to avoid consequences for his actions even if he’s guilty in all 22 civil cases,” wrote Joe Banner — the franchise’s CEO from 2012-14 — for The 33^rd Team website. “They did this by putting a salary in year one that was so low that the impact of a suspension or fine from the league would be negligible. Even if you disagree with me and think it’s ok that the Browns traded for him, I can’t imagine how anyone would defend that the Browns have helped him avoid one of the potentially significant consequences of his actions.”

Watson denied his accusers’ allegations several times in an introductory news conference Friday, saying he’s “never assaulted, or harassed or disrespected any woman.”

Not buying it, said the wife of a Cleveland sports legend.

“Officially cancelled our Browns season tickets today and asked for a refund as they were paid in full,” wrote Andrea Thome, whose husband, Jim Thome, was an All-Star slugger for the city’s MLB team. “Very sad after 40 years as a fan, but this is my line in the sand. I believe women. Especially when there are 22 of them. That press conference did nothing to change my mind.”

Twice in Texas, a grand jury decided against pursuing charges against Watson. For victims of sexual abuse, it was troubling nevertheless to see Browns ownership shower Watson with money.

“A decision by Dee and Jimmy Haslam has revived memories from nearly 47 years ago that I thought were safely locked away,” wrote the Akron Beacon-Journal’s Marla Ridenour, a longtime Ohio columnist and former Browns beat reporter. “Since the Browns co-owners met with and traded for quarterback Deshaun Watson, I am among the sexual assault victims in Northeast Ohio and around the country who have had their past trauma triggered.

“This is not about Watson’s guilt or innocence,” she wrote, adding: “No matter the resolution, that will be forgotten when Watson wins games and perhaps takes the Browns to their first Super Bowl. This is about victims who are reliving unspeakable acts of violence because of the way the Browns have embraced Watson.”

The $230 million in guaranteed money stunned even Andrew Brandt, a former longtime NFL executive and player agent.

“I would have never thought that the first truly guaranteed long-term contract in NFL history would come to a player about to be suspended under the NFL Personal Conduct Policy, but here we are,” he wrote in his newsletter. “Watson was, essentially, a free agent, and a young, ascending free agent quarterback is precious gold in the NFL no matter, it seems, the circumstances.”

Within NFL circles, the Haslems’ decision won’t endear them to fellow team owners.

Notably, Dean Spanos and Mike Brown of the Chargers and Bengals may see their teams feel an additional pinch when they negotiate huge raises for their young quarterbacks because of the guarantees to Watson.

The NFL stipulates a team must prefund fully guaranteed contracts. The Chargers and Bengals can rightly point out that Watson’s status as a free agent inflated his leverage (neither Justin Herbert nor Joe Burrow stands to become a free agent when his next contract is negotiated). Herbert, however, has been far sturdier than Watson, who plays on two reconstructed knees. If Watson’s fully guaranteed money becomes a standard for other QB negotiations, cash-flow concerns could be acute.

“Teams like the Bengals and Chargers,” wrote Brandt, “do not have the ownership resources that the Browns have. The effects of this contract will reverberate around the league for years.”