He was a 1st round pick and didn't even even start all their games last year. He made some great plays, but he didn't materialize to be the elite TE they though he would. Sure, he's a decent player and it looks like the Brown's didn't really overpay.. so good for them.
http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=...121&pcid=41
From the article posted on Patriots.com:
So let’s look at Benjamin Watson, a clear first-round disappointment in New England. Over the years he proved two things beyond a shadow of a doubt – that he couldn’t stay healthy and couldn’t catch the ball with enough consistency when it was thrown to him.
So, what did Belichick, Brady and Co. do? They made Watson less an emphasis in the offense, took advantage of his developing skills as a blocker and looked elsewhere more often with the passing game.
Watson was supposed to be a Pro Bowl talent, a freakish package of athletic skills. But when he was the best option for the passing game – on a wide receiver thin 2006 Patriots team – he didn’t exactly dominate. When he was packaged with elite talents around him like Randy Moss and Wes Welker, he couldn’t maximize his opportunities in regards to big plays, mismatches and changing games as a middle-of-the-field playmaker.
What’s that tell us? That Watson wasn’t a very good football player and clearly not a guy capable of consistently making plays at a high level.