If the collective worry over quarterback Deshaun Watson couldn't get any worse, Mike Sando of The Athletic revealed his annual quarterback tiers list, and Watson is continuing to free fall. 

The list is curated using the opinions and analysis of  50 league insiders who placed 30 veteran quarterbacks into tiers. Those league insiders include eight general managers, 10 head coaches, 15 coordinators, 10 executives, four quarterbacks coaches, and three involved in coaching or analytics.

Voters put 30 veteran quarterbacks into five tiers, with tier one being the best and tier five being the worst. Quarterbacks were then ranked by vote and placed into tiers based on the vote distribution, beginning with Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, whose 1.00 average vote reflected his status as a unanimous tier-one pick. The Browns' Watson fell into tier two, which means he saw a greater year-to-year drop in tiers aside from four other quarterbacks: Russell Wilson, Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, and Matthew Stafford. 

Watson only received one tier-one vote this year. A not so shocking drop after putting together one of the worst seasons of his career in 2022. For context, Watson received 16 tier-one votes heading into the 2022 season. And then he received 26 tier-one votes heading into the 2021 season. Then, in 2020, he received his most tier-one votes with 28 heading into the season. 

Watson has been declining among the opinions of those in the NFL for a few seasons. Part of that has to do with his off-field issues. However, another aspect of it has to deal directly with the reality that he hasn't played quality football in a long time. 

In the tier ranking article, one NFL insider is quoted as saying the offense was shaking when his team played the Browns. 

“I’ll tell you what, when we played him, it was bad,” a defensive coach said. “It was real shaky.”

Another insider attributed it to rust because he hadn't played in a year. Which, there might be some truth to that perspective. 

However, what can't be ignored is that Watson's on-field perception around the league is plummeting, making the Browns' fully guaranteed contract for him appear even worse. 

In six games played during the 2022 season, Watson completed 58 percent of his passes and threw seven touchdowns to five interceptions. He averaged a mediocre 183.7 yards per game, and too many times the Browns failed to secure points in critical situations with Watson under center. 

For one reason or another, Watson has made the Browns look bad for not only trading for him but giving him a fully guaranteed deal. If it doesn't work out in 2023, the pressure on Andrew Berry will only grow, and Watson will continue to look like a bandit who made out with one of the biggest heists in professional sports history. 

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Feature image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports.