Standing still

The more things change in AFC, the less they change for Dolphins

Excuse me, if I type while toweling off, but I needed a shower after reading the terms of Deshaun Watson’s $230 million totally guaranteed contract with the Cleveland Browns.

One nifty feature is a base salary of a reported $1 million next year. The Browns wanted to protect Watson in case he’s suspended next season for alleged sexual misconduct claims by 22 women in a civil suit.

Give it to the Browns: They made no pretense of selling their soul. Watson wasn’t indicted of a crime by a grand jury. But the 22 women remain a career-staining stat. I’m all for second chances. But $230 million worth of second chances? Here’s another sad part, local division: The Dolphins can’t even claim the moral high ground. Owner Steve Ross and general manager Chris Grier can’t say that, yeah, we’ll be 8-9 next season — and that’s how it looks from an admittedly unfinished offseason picture — but at least we stand for something. Because they didn’t. And they don’t.

Unless they stand for planned mediocrity, which is another two-decade subject entirely around this franchise.

Ross and Grier either chased Watson or were talked into chasing him by former coach Brian Flores in the middle of last season when it made for a public mess and pulled the rug from under quarterback

Tua Tagovailoa. Either way, Ross and Grier were involved.

The Dolphins, of course, pulled out of the Watson derby after firing Flores in January. Or Watson pulled out on them, depending on which source is talking. It’s always a trip back to high school in these stories to hear who broke up first. What

Deshaun Watson, a one-time Dolphins target, signed with the Cleveland Browns as the Dolphins fell behind another team in the AFC.