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Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders will face stiff competition for the starting job from Deshaun Watson.
Deshaun Watson may not just be in the mix to start next season for the Cleveland Browns. He is potentially the favorite to win the job.
Watson is heading into the final year of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract with the Browns. That deal has been a “big swing and miss,” as Browns owner Jimmy Haslam dubbed it. Watson has appeared in just 19 games since 2022, going 9-10 as the starter in those games.
When he has been healthy, Watson has been largely disappointing, with a few flashes of his former Pro Bowl self. In his three seasons with Cleveland, Watson completed 61.2% of his passes for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 19 starts, posting a 80.7 passer rating — a steep drop from the 104.5 rating he averaged during his best years in Houston.
His best stretch came in 2023, when he went 5-1 as a starter before injuries derailed the season. But he never recaptured the dynamic playmaking that made him one of the league’s most coveted quarterbacks. In 2024, his passer rating dipped to 79.0 and he managed just five touchdown passes in seven starts before a season-ending Achilles injury sent him to injured reserve in October.
Watson missed all of last year as he recovered from a pair of Achilles surgeries. He returned to practice for three weeks late in the year but was never activated to the 53-man roster.
Deshaun Watson in ‘Pole Position’ to Start for Browns
Watson is expected to be part of an open competition for the Browns’ starting quarterback job, with Shedeur Sanders currently positioned as his primary challenger. Still, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network believes Watson has the inside track to start — partly due to the significant financial commitment the Browns have tied to him.
“Does Deshaun Watson have a chance to be the Browns’ starter in 2026? Yes he does,” Garafolo said on Good Morning Football. “And in my opinion, he’s got a great shot. In fact, at this point, if Deshaun Watson is the starter Week 1 for the Cleveland Browns, this guy right here is not going to be surprised.
“Now there will probably be some kind of open competition that they’ll have throughout the summer. The Browns have done that before. They had one last year — a four-way competition in training camp for the Browns. So I would expect that to be the way that it goes. But you’re paying (Watson) anyway. He’s on the roster. He was previously an accomplished quarterback. There’s been a lot that’s happened off the field. I understand that. But to me, Deshaun Watson might even be in the pole position at this point to be the Browns’ starter for this upcoming season.”
Shedeur Sanders Prominently in Mix for Browns
New head coach Todd Monken has expressed interest in Watson, but he’s been just as complimentary of Sanders — whom multiple insiders believe holds the early edge in the starting race.
“I think what you see is elite playmaking ability. That’s in him,” Monken said of Sanders. “You’ve seen it. We’ve seen it. You saw it in college. You saw it on tape last year. Sure, there’s a ways to go. But what rookie isn’t, I mean, what first year player doesn’t have a long way to go? So, I’m excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players.”
Sanders started the final seven games last season for the Browns. He went 3-4 in the role, passing for 1,400 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Dillon Gabriel is also on the roster but isn’t expected to be a significant factor in the quarterback decision.
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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