The Cleveland Browns have a big question mark at quarterback, but the team appears to be high on Deshaun Watson.
Cleveland has Watson, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel all under contract, and the team could even add a quarterback in the draft. Yet, who starts is a big question, and although many hint at Sanders being the starter, Browns insider Zac Jackson of The Athletic believes the team has faith in Watson being able to turn back the clock.
“Lots of people think the Browns really believe they can still get something out of Watson,” Jackson wrote. “I call that the definition of insanity, and even if Watson stays healthy and plays okay for a month or so, how does that help the franchise achieve any of its real long-term goals?”
Watson has been rehabbing from a torn Achilles, and Jackson believes the organization thinks he can be the Pro Bowl quarterback he once was.
However, Jackson doesn’t think the Browns should be starting Watson over Sanders, as the team needs to figure out what they have in Sanders.
Watson is in the final year of his five-year, $230 million deal with the Browns.
Analyst Questions Why Browns Would Start Watson
After Jackson claimed that the Browns could start Watson over Sanders, fellow analyst Jason Lloyd didn’t understand.
Instead, he believes that if the Browns don’t acquire a true franchise quarterback, the team needs to start Sanders to see if he is the long-term answer at quarterback.
“Nothing will change with this franchise until the Browns solve the quarterback question,” Lloyd wrote. “Playing Watson ahead of Shedeur Sanders feels like an admission to me that the organization doesn’t feel Sanders is the one. Which, fine, I tend to agree with them.
“But if I have to choose between Sanders and Watson, I’m choosing Sanders every time. What is the benefit of playing Watson? You might win one extra game? Maybe two? Great. All that does is push you down deeper in the allegedly quarterback-rich 2027 draft and make it more difficult to find the next guy. And round and round we go.”
Sanders finished the year as the Browns’ starting quarterback, and he showed flashes of being a true starting quarterback. However, there are question marks around him, which is why Lloyd believes the team needs to start Sanders.
Cleveland Having Open QB Competition
The Browns don’t have a true No. 1 quarterback, and the team plans to have an open quarterback competition.
After hiring head coach Todd Monken, the coach said he likes what he’s seen from Watson and Sanders.
“There’s enough there of all three. There’s enough there to really like Deshaun (Watson), the way he plays,” Monken said. “And there’s enough there to really like the way Shedeur (Sanders) played at the back end of the year. And there’s enough early in the year from Dillon. Someone’s going to have to start off first, and someone’s going to go second, and someone’s going to go third.”
The hope for Monken is to have a starting quarterback determined well before training camp so they can get the most reps.
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