Asked and Answered, Week 5: Is the Deshaun Watson deal the worst contract in NFL history?

Every week of the NFL season brings with it a ton of new questions… and answers some old ones too. Let's recap what we learned in Week 5… and what we'll wonder about in Week 6 and beyond.

ASKED: Is the Deshaun Watson deal the worst contract ever?

Sunday's Week 5 schedule was a cascade of unpredictability, a game in which losers became winners, defenses scored touchdowns, fields were turned over and expectations were dashed. Anywhere but Cleveland… where everything is overwhelmingly, depressingly focused on the brand. The Browns were humiliated by Washington 34-13, and Deshaun Watson's complete inability to do anything against one of the league's worst defenses was a major reason why.

Watson is playing on a five-year, $230 million contract with full guarantees, a deal that is increasingly looking like one of the worst in sports history. (At least for the Browns. Congratulations to Watson and his agents for pulling off one of the greatest deals in the history of sports.) That's why the deal that everyone knew would be a disaster is actually a disaster.

In general, we think of contracts as “terrible” – Washington's seven-year, $100 million deal for Albert Haynesworth, the New York Knicks' six-year, $100 million deal for Allan Houston, pretty much every contract the Los Angeles Angels offer to anyone – are “terrible” because of one key factor or another. This means: the player is injured and cannot get on the field, the player comes on the field but underperforms, or the player causes problems off the field.

The Watson contract hits the extremely rare triple whammy – Watson wasn't fully healthy; if he is healthy, he is not well; and allegations continue to circulate around him off the field. That's a franchise-destroying combination, and Cleveland will be stuck with him for the foreseeable future. Oh yeah, and Baker Mayfield, the guy they kicked to the curb because of Watson, is also making a splash in Tampa.

So if the Watson deal isn't the worst contract ever, it will be until the real deal happens. And Cleveland will likely be the team that can provide it.

One of the true joys of the early NFL season is the way preconceived notions and blanket judgments simply blow away in the wind, as if “the NFC North is like Detroit in the blink of an eye.” Suddenly the division looks top to bottom like the best in football. We'll get to Chicago in a moment, and Detroit had a bye week, but look at how well Minnesota – the first team to go 5-0, one of two undefeated teams until Monday Night Football – and Green Bay played in Week 5, to make the most of opportunities and avoid the traps that have engulfed so many other teams. ('Sup, San Fran and Seattle.) The NFC North could put three teams in the playoffs, and we're still not sure which three, which is pretty darn impressive.

We will stick with this verdict until the start of the sixth week, then it will no longer be valid.

ASKED: Is San Francisco OK?

Certain teams receive the benefit of the doubt due to previous successes, while others receive no recognition due to previous failures. The San Francisco 49ers meet the first criterion, the Arizona Cardinals the second. So when Arizona stepped up and beat San Francisco with a surprise win on Sunday, it wasn't just a reversal of expectations, it was a crack in the foundations of the NFC West. The 49ers are now 2-3 this year. Yes, Christian McCaffrey's absence is impacting the team significantly, but as the old injury cliché goes, McCaffrey doesn't play defense. Injuries on and off the roster have affected the team's chances, but every team struggles with injury problems. The Niners couldn't close Arizona out to a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, and that's a bigger concern. San Francisco should be fine, but the Niners can't afford many more weeks like this.

ANSWER: The Ravens are doing well

When Baltimore started the season 0-2, the cries of “What the—?” The echoes from the Inner Harbor could be heard across the country. But Baltimore quickly evened out its record with decisive wins over Buffalo and Dallas and entered Sunday's divisional game against Cincinnati on firm ground. They left the instant, classic throw not just on solid ground, but on a pedestal. Lamar Jackson's four-touchdown performance, including one of the most spectacular touchdown scrambles you'll see this year, was good enough to (narrowly) surpass Joe Burrow's five-touchdown performance. Baltimore now exudes an air of relentless inevitability, and that's exactly what Ravens fans want to see from this team – the feeling that whenever Jackson can't get around a problem, Derrick Henry can just stomp over it. The 0-2 start is now just a distant memory.

ASKED: Is Buffalo's window closing faster than expected?

The Bills rallied early this season with three opening wins against Arizona, Miami and Jacksonville – victories that, as it turned out, were mostly empty calories. Losses to significantly superior or significantly more opportunistic teams – Baltimore and Houston – have erased the last vestiges of danger that surrounded this team. The Bills' crazy late-game playmaking – three straight passes from their own three that lead directly to Houston's game-winning field goal – lurks in the background of every close game, meaning it's impossible to trust the Bills in tense situations have. The AFC is a crab-in-a-barrel conference right now, but Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston – at least – all seem to be more stable than Buffalo right now. There's still a long way to go until January, but it's longer for Buffalo right now than the teams they can expect to face in the playoffs in January.

ANSWER: Take a breath, Bears fans

Any time you have the No. 1 draft pick, you're under scrutiny next season, fair or not, and so far this year, the Chicago Bears and top QB Caleb Williams have been uncomfortable under it Magnifying glass moves. Now we're hesitant to give a lot of credit to a Carolina Panthers win, but Chicago still looked pretty darn good in their 36-10 win on Sunday afternoon. After an early touchdown, the Bears scored 30 points in a row. Williams threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns and generally seemed comfortable on offense very comfortable throw to DJ Moore. The question of “Williams or Jayden Daniels” will linger for many years to come, but as long as Williams continues to perform reliably, it will be a “what if” question, not a “what could have been.” And if nothing else, playing Carolina is a good way to remember that things could always get worse.