BEREA, Ohio — Another summer, another quarterback competition. But at long last, a winner has been crowned, and Deshaun Watson will be the starting quarterback to open the 2026 regular season, a source confirmed to News 5.
Watson will get the start for the Week 1 road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Sanders will be next in line, set to be Watson's backup, ready for if or when a change is made.
How the battle unfolded
This summer, the Browns have been evaluating both Shedeur Sanders, who ended his rookie season as the starting quarterback for the Browns in the last seven games, and veteran Deshaun Watson, who returned to the mix after spending 2025 rehabbing from two Achilles injuries.
The two have spent OTAs, minicamp and training camp this year splitting reps with the first team. Aside from a day where Monken changed the order and gave Watson first-team reps to get a look with personnel the team felt they hadn't seen enough of, the schedule of alternating days with the ones has been consistent for Watson and Sanders.
Monken had split up the preseason and joint practice with the Buffalo Bills between the two as well. Sanders and Watson both split first-team work in practice with the Bills, each getting to work against Buffalo's ones.
Watson started the first preseason game in Chicago against the Bears, playing the first half. In his two quarters of work, which saw the Browns' offensive starters on the field with him, Watson was 11-for-15, with 126 yards and a sack. Sanders took over in the third quarter of that game, playing through the start of the fourth quarter while going 6-for-11 with 79 yards and an interception.
The next week, in the preseason game against the Bills, the roles were reversed. Sanders started the second preseason game, but while Watson had time with most of the first-team in his start, the Browns and Bills had agreed to rest veterans and some starters, leaving rookie receiver Denzel Boston as the lone first-team player with Sanders.
Sanders was 9-for-11 with 74 yards, an opening-drive touchdown, an interception and a sack in his start. Watson then took over in the third quarter and played into the start of the fourth. Watson went 5-for-12 passing with 36 yards and an interception.
Watson reaches boiling point with fans
Saturday's preseason game against the Bills marked Watson's first game action inside Huntington Bank Field since he ruptured his Achilles in the Week 7 game against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024. Unfortunately for Watson, his experience on Saturday was not a warm welcome back, but instead came with shades of his 2024 departure.
Watson went three-and-out in his first drive against the Bills, and the crowd began what would be an outing filled with boos. On incomplete passes, Watson was booed. At the end of a failed drive, Watson was booed. When he threw the interception, Watson was booed.
After handing off the reins to Dillon Gabriel to close out the Browns' 31-7 preseason loss to the Bills, Watson sat on the bench, towel over his head, looking dejected. That energy carried into his postgame press conference, where he expressed his displeasure at the fans' displeasure with him—claiming they were personal attacks not based on his performance.
“Man, I didn’t have any reaction [to the booing]. I think the biggest thing is, I think you guys know, and I think the whole world knows, it has nothing to do with the performance. It’s a little more personal than that. So, I think that’s a disrespectful thing," Watson said, before expanding on his feelings on the matter in follow-up questions. “Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles, and that same fan base cheered when I got hurt. So, what does that have to do with anything about performance? When a person gets hurt, especially in their own city, and they cheer?" Watson said.
Watson has always been a polarizing figure in his time with the Browns. Cleveland went all-in on their trade for Watson back in 2022, sending a massive haul of draft capital (a package that included three first-round draft picks and, at the time, the largest totally guaranteed contract in NFL history, to be more specific) to acquire the quarterback. They also acquired the off-field baggage that came with Watson, as the quarterback dealt with a total of 27 lawsuits that accused him of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior with massage therapists.
Ultimately, Watson settled all of the civil lawsuits but played in just six games in his first year with the Browns after being given an 11-game suspension from the league for violating the personal conduct policy. When he returned, he did so without having played in NFL action for 700 days, sitting out for the 2021 season, which added to what he referred to as "rust" upon his return.
Watson has never played a full season for the Browns. A shoulder injury in 2023 ended his year after six games. The Achilles injury ended his year after seven games. A re-tear of the Achilles kept him out of the entire 2025 season.
When he has played, he's struggled. Watson has never played a game where he's thrown for 300 or more yards during his time in Cleveland. He has a 9-10 record with the Browns and has thrown 19 total touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Browns waited but hadn't seen the elite version of Watson from his Houston days. Even Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted the trade was a failure at the Annual League Meeting in March of 2025.
“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun," Haslam told reporters. "We thought we had the quarterback; we didn't, and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we've got to dig ourselves out of that hole. [It] was an entire organization decision, and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable.”
Watson rehabbed his Achilles and worked, despite the comments from ownership, to return to play football again for the Browns. He got his first game action this preseason and hoped to win over the acceptance from fans in the process. That wasn't exactly the case, as he learned Saturday.
“I thought being away for two years and working myself back from two Achilles injuries and putting the time in, being around the facility, being around the city, doing charity work in the city, supporting the Cleveland Browns, hanging out with fans whenever I do see them, being honest, being the type of person I know I am, and the character would help, and I guess it hasn’t," Watson said. "So, that’s why I say it’s more personal. It is what it is. People have their own opinions, and there’s only so much you can do to change that. So, at the end of the day, I just have to continue to work on it and strive to be better mentally moving forward.”
What's next
Watson said after Saturday's preseason game that he feels more love on road games than he does from Browns fans.
“It’s a mental battle every day. I feel like I get more love on road games than I do at home games. So, if it is my spot and he does make me the starter, maybe it’s 17 away games, then. I don’t know," he said.
With Watson set to start in Week 1, a road game against the Jaguars, he does get some of his wish early. The first two games of the regular season are on the road. Perhaps that's enough opportunity for Watson to turn things around on the field and with the fan base. If not, he'll have to prepare to face a hostile home environment in Week 3—if the Browns haven't made a change by that point.
