FOUR DAYS BEFORE the Cleveland Browns' 2024 season opener at Huntington Bank Field, Deshaun Watson was asked if he still considered himself one of the league's elite quarterbacks. Watson, for whom Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to the Houston Texans and guaranteed $230 million for five years in 2022,

The team officially announced the signing of quarterback Bailey Zappe to the active roster off the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs. Zappe, who has appeared in 14 games with eight starts, is in his third season in the NFL. He was originally selected by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Zappe spent the last two seasons with the New England Patriots, starting eight games in 2022 and 2023. The Patriots drafted Zappe in the fourth round in '22 after he threw for 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns in his lone year at Western Kentucky —both FBS single-season records.