Smart move by the smart guys

By STEVE KING

The jury is obviously still out — very much so, to be sure — on the Browns’ trade to get quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Because he is knee-deep — or, more likely, waist-deep — in off-the-field issues for a starting lineup-full of alleged acts of sexual misconduct — the deal to land Watson, then give him a record-setting, historical contract, is a huge risk-reward situation. Of that we can all agree.
If the Browns’ top people — owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski — are right in this, then they will have landed the franchise quarterback they’ve so desperately needed since the middle of the 1993 season when Bernie Kosar was unceremoniously released. That was 30 years ago, so it’s high time — actually way past time — that the Browns finally got it right.
But if they’re wrong, then they will have crippled the franchise for years and years to come because of the contract and three first-round NFL Draft choices they gave up to pull it off.
While all of this is playing out — and it will definitely take a while for that to occur — the Browns’ smart guys, Berry and his staff, and Stefanski, are proving their smarts by systematically locking up the core pieces of the club, the latest being Denzel Ward. They made him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
There will be more moves like this to come, putting the Browns right where they want to be, and right where they need to be, with the biggest group of young, talented players since the arrival of Kosar in 1985. He was the biggest piece of the puzzle back then, paving the way for the Browns to become one of the best teams in the league. Watson would be the biggest piece of the current puzzle if he can navigate his way through this dicey minefield.
If Watson is able to play, and thus showcase his immense ability, then the  Browns could become — could become — one of football’s top clubs again. And their smart guys will look smarter than ever,
The morals of it will likely always be another matter entirely.  And I think the smart guys are smart enough to realize that, be resigned to it.