NFL insider expands on Browns' handling of Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders this spring

Even Cleveland Browns beat reporters are now acknowledging that certain individuals associated with the organization seemingly want it known that Deshaun Watson and not Shedeur Sanders is on track to serve as Cleveland's starting quarterback for its Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.

For a mailbag posted on Wednesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated was asked what has "changed" for the Browns since team owner Jimmy Haslam said in early 2025 that the team "took a big swing and miss" when it acquired Watson from the Houston Texans in March 2022 and then signed him to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract.

Is this fear causing Browns to want to start Deshaun Watson in 2026?

"I don’t think anything has changed," Breer answered. "It is what it is. The Browns spent three first-round picks on Deshaun Watson, and the financial meter will run to $230M. Jimmy Haslam saying the trade was a swing and a miss is the understatement of the decade. That said, what would make that swing and a miss worse? Giving Watson no chance under the new coaching staff, only to see him revive his career with a new team in 2027. At this point, the investment they have in the other quarterbacks on the roster is third-, fifth- and sixth-round picks (Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and Taylen Green, respectively) and those guys cost the team relative pennies on rookie deals."

Multiple May reports have suggested the Browns have already decided they will not bring Watson back in 2027, regardless of how he plays from September through January. Thus, some understandably have said that first-year head coach Todd Monken should want to play Sanders or even Gabriel this coming fall. 

However, the perception also exists that star pass-rusher Myles Garrett and other veterans on the Cleveland roster won't tolerate the Browns "punting" on the 2026 season by using it to evaluate younger quarterbacks if Watson looks like the club's best option at the position from now through the end of the preseason. In short, Monken can't risk losing the locker room by playing Sanders or Gabriel unless one of the two makes a major leap before August comes to an end. 

Browns willing to see where Deshaun Watson takes them this fall

"If Sanders beats out Watson and is the best quarterback for the Browns in 2026," Breer continued, "then you go with him. But if Watson is the best guy in the spring and summer, and shows even a sliver of the high-end quarterback play he put on display in Houston on the practice field, then I think the Browns owe it to themselves to give him some run in the fall and see where it goes." 

Several top-tier quarterback prospects are expected to be available in the 2027 NFL Draft. As each new report about Watson surfaces, it seems more likely that one of those prospects and not Sanders will be Monken's project regarding Cleveland's quarterback situation at this time next year.