Now, according to former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joel Bitonio, who recently retired as one of the best lineman in franchise history, he has no special insight on what the team is planning as it opens training camp with all eyes on one particular battle: Deshaun Watson vs. Shedeur Sanders in a race for the role of starting quarterback in Week 1. You’ll be excused for being a bit skeptical on that, given the fact that Bitonio still knows most of the key decision-making cogs in the organization, and has been blocked for both Watson and Sanders as starters in the league.
He calls himself a fan now, and suggests that he gets most of his information on what the Browns might do next the same way the rest of us do. Again, maybe he’s being truthful there. But he certainly has some inside knowledge of Watson and Sanders that few of the rest of us have.
And for Bitonio, it’s going to be Deshaun Watson–in the final season of his five-year, $230 million albatross contract–as the starter to open the 2026 season.
Joel Bitonio: ‘Deshaun Watson Might Get the Start’ for Browns
Speaking on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, the Browns great said logic and Twitter/X has him thinking that starting Watson with a Sanders fallback just makes the most sense.
Said Bitonio: “I don’t know. I don’t know who is going to come out on top. I don’t know what the coaching staff is thinking, I don’t know what AB (Andrew Berry) is thinking, not being around. But you know, it seems like from an outside—and I haven’t been at OTAs, I am a fan now—but I just see what’s happening on Twitter and stuff.
“And it seems like Deshaun might get the start of the year, which from one perspective, you see what he can do. Is he healthy, is he confident again? You’ve invested a lot of money in this guy, you go out there and you let him play.”
Deshaun Watson Coming Back From 2 Achilles Surgeries
We know the history, of course. Watson is 30 years old now, and is coming back from two surgeries on his Achilles tendon, an injury that would wipe out most careers. But he is attempting a comeback nonetheless, and after sitting still on the quarterback market this offseason, he is the Browns’ most experienced option–despite not having thrown a pass since October 2024, when all three of his fellow QB-roommates were in college.
Joel Bitonio noted that starting Watson still gives the team the option to pivot to Sanders.
He said: “If it goes well, OK, you win some games. If it doesn’t, you have Shedeur and maybe there is less pressure on Shedeur when he is coming in not having to start the season winning a competition. That is my perspective from the outside, but you never know. Shedeur could dominate in the preseason and it’d be like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to roll with this young guy,’ and it is the future and the time is now.”
No Timeline on Browns Decision
One thing that will be interesting to witness as camp gets underway is just how quickly (or not) new head coach Todd Monken makes his pick on QB1. Early on in his tenure, Monken said he’d hoped to have decided by the end of mandatory minicamp. That’s come and gone, and no decision is in the offing. The Browns will have no-pad practices in the first week of camp, and put the pads on in the second week.
Monken said last month that the team will keep rotating Deshaun Watson and Sanders: “We’ll start off all camp just like we’ve been doing. We’ll alternate those guys.”
Asked if they could have a decision by the time pads go on, Monken said: “That’d be great. I don’t know if I will, but I’d love to. I’d love to have it now. We just don’t.”
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