Deshaun Watson's window to return closes without him being activated

When the Browns opened quarterback Deshaun Watson's practice window earlier this month, word was that they did not plan to activate him from the physically unable to perform list so that he could play in a game.

That course of action is now confirmed. Tuesday was the final day that Watson could be activated before he became ineligible to return this season and the Browns left him on the PUP list.

"He's done a great job with everything that's been asked of him," head coach Kevin Stefanski said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. "I've gotten to see him work so hard, whether it's in the training room, by himself in the indoor with the trainers, on the practice field now for the last bit. Just felt like this was the right decision for him and for us. His focus will continue to be to help this football team and continue to get healthy and get stronger and all those types of things."

Watson tore his Achilles last season and tore it again in January. He remains under contract for the 2026 season with a fully guaranteed salary of $46 million. Releasing him without a post-June 1 designation would result in a cap hit of more than $131 million while using the designation would leave $80 million in dead money, so he's expected to remain on the roster whether he's back in the starting lineup or not.