![\"Deshaun](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2219065019_5ad715-e1775577378211.jpg\")
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Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns <\/p>\n
You could throw a dart into a room full of former quarterbacks and there would be a high percentage chance that you\u2019d hit one who has suited up for the Cleveland Browns<\/a>. No one cycles through QBs quite like this franchise, and the there must be a certain connection based in historical futility that bonds them all together. If you need some thoughts on whether the team should start Deshaun Watson<\/a> or Shedeur Sanders<\/a> here in 2026, then, you can simply ask a guy who had the job 17 years ago.<\/p>\n That would be former first-round pick Brady Quinn, whose Browns career spanned three seasons and a 3-9 record in 12 career starts.<\/p>\n Backers of Sanders won\u2019t much like this, but Quinn said on Tuesday that the Browns should be coming out with Watson as the starter in Week 1 this season, citing his lengthy experience and hefty contract.<\/p>\n Deshaun Watson\u2019s \u2018Got the Most Experience\u2019<\/p>\n Speaking on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland on Tuesday, Quinn explained why he thinks Watson\u2013who is coming back from two Achilles tendon surgeries and has not played since October 2024\u2013is the man for the Browns, at least to open the year.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the most experienced,\u201d Quinn said<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s along-winded conversation but, ultimately, you\u2019ve paid him and you\u2019re paying him. So, you gotta kind of see what\u2019s still there in my opinion. If he\u2019s healthy and he\u2019s able to, then you gotta play him. Then you can move to the younger guy depending how things go.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s how I would see the beginning of the season. You go with the guy that\u2019s got the most experience, the most starts doing it and see where he is at, see if there\u2019s anything left to salvage because of the commitment you made however many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Brady Quinn #10 of the Cleveland Browns<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Browns Could Move to Shedeur Sanders if Deshaun Watson Flops<\/p>\n The commitment was, of course, significant. In arguably the worst contract in the history of the NFL<\/a>, the Browns in 2022 guaranteed Watson $230 million over five years<\/a>. It would not seem a smart move to give Watson the job based on that.<\/p>\n Quinn said it\u2019s what the Browns ought to do anyway: \u201cThat maybe sounds like more of a business decision and answer, but that\u2019s what this league is. That\u2019s what I think you\u2019ve got to find out this year, before you start over again next year. Because that\u2019s the biggest financial burden.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so before you can move on and see what\u2019s there, you\u2019ve got to kick the tires on that one last time, then you can turn it over to Shedeur, then you can turn it over to Dillon Gabriel if he is there as well. When you start with the veteran, you already know what you pretty much have\u2014maybe to some degree, his health, this system, what he can do under Monken. But you gotta start there, and then once you turn it over to Shedeur.\u201d<\/p>\n Browns Should Go With Best Option From the Start<\/p>\n There is some logic to that, to putting the veteran first, then moving to the young player. But there are a couple of problems with that from the Browns\u2019 perspective. For one thing, they did that last year, going from Joe Flacco<\/a> to Dillon Gabriel<\/a> to Sanders, who finishing the season with a 3-4 record, while the other two went 2-8.<\/p>\n For another thing, saying you\u2019ll start with Watson and hand it over to Sanders pretty much concedes that you\u2019re headed for another losing year. presumably, it would only be after at least four or five starts that Watson would be bumped out of the starting job, which means you might be giving Sanders the job already down in the standings and without that handful of games to improve.<\/p>\n The Browns have not been tanking in recent years\u2013if they go that route, they can dump Myles Garrett for draft picks, play quarterback roulette again and be the same Browns we\u2019ve seen over the years. If they\u2019re serious about winning, they should pick the quarterback who gives them the best chance from the outset.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSean Deveney<\/a> is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Browns\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns You could throw a dart into a room full of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-859327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116364465047555789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Brady](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-76615380-e1775577244573.jpg\")
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