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Deshaun Watson will be in the mix to start for the Cleveland Browns next season.
Deshaun Watson appears focused as he prepares for a comeback season, but the Cleveland Browns quarterback also carved out time to reset overseas before turning his attention fully to football.
Watson and his wife, Jilly Anais Watson, recently traveled to Italy before heading to St. Moritz, where they attended The Ice — an exclusive automotive and lifestyle event staged on a frozen lake in the Swiss Alps.
“NOW OR NEVER,” Watson wrote, sharing video from the event.
The caption may have been about the trip, but it easily doubles as a message about what lies ahead. Watson is entering the final year of his contract with the Browns, and his long-term future in the league likely hinges on proving he’s still capable of leading an offense as a full-time starter.
Soon after returning from the trip, Watson was back on the field working with personal quarterback coach Quincy Avery, signaling that preparations are already underway for what could be the most important season of his career.
Browns Intrigued by Deshaun Watson as Starting Option
Watson missed all of last season while recovering from a pair of Achilles surgeries, but he’s expected to be back at full strength next year and will enter training camp competing with Shedeur Sanders for the starting quarterback job.
Sanders, a fifth-round pick, is coming off a rookie season in which he started seven games. Watson, meanwhile, has appeared in just 19 games since arriving in Cleveland in 2022. Still, new head coach Todd Monken has signaled intrigue about whether Watson can rediscover the form that once made him one of the league’s most dynamic passers. Before joining the Browns, Watson was a three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans.
“You’ve got two young players that still have a long way to go in terms of development, and that’s part of the learning curve in the NFL,” Monken said of Dillon Gabriel and Sanders. “And then you’ve got a player like Deshaun, who’s coming back from injury and at one time was a Pro Bowl player, and an elite player in this league, that we would love to tap back into that, let alone with Dillon and Shedeur.”
Browns Not Tipping Hand on QB Situation
Monken avoided tipping his hand on the quarterback competition during his introductory press conference. Asked whether Sanders had a head start after finishing last season as the starter, the new Browns head coach made it clear that no jobs are being handed out.
“Well, I think like any position on the team, that’s still to be determined. Am I excited about Shedeur? Am I excited about all the quarterbacks in the room? Absolutely,” Monken said. “I can’t wait for them to get back and for us to get started.”
That said, Monken said he had a productive conversation with Sanders shortly after being hired. Monken reiterated that he tried to draft Sanders during his time with the Baltimore Ravens, but the situation never materialized. According to reports, Sanders’ camp advised Baltimore not to select him at the time because there was no clear path to playing time with two-time MVP Lamar Jackson firmly entrenched as the Ravens’ QB1.
J.R. DeGroote JR DeGroote is a staff writer for Heavy.com, where he has covered the NFL, NBA, and trending sports stories since 2019. His work focuses on some of the most passionate fanbases in sports, including reporting on the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers. More about J.R. DeGroote
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