Browns GM Andrew Berry shares bad news for Shedeur Sanders amid Deshaun Watson competition

Some think that first-year Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken should eventually name 2025 rookie Shedeur Sanders the team's starting quarterback over veteran Deshaun Watson, if only because Watson reportedly has no future with the Browns beyond the end of the 2026 season.

During a Friday morning appearance on Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan, Browns general manager Andrew Berry hinted that the team hasn't closed the door on potentially bringing Watson back following the upcoming campaign.

Browns won't "rule out anything" regarding future of Deshaun Watson

"I think everything is on the table," Berry said about Watson's future, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "I think it would be silly to go into a season saying, 'Something absolutely can or cannot happen.' And I think particularly at the quarterback position, we’ve seen it with guys, whether it’s Sam Darnold, or Daniel Jones, or Geno Smith, even [Baker Mayfield] after he left us and Carolina. So I think you have to be open-minded and flexible. But I wouldn’t rule out anything. We’re looking for guys who can perform and who can lead."

Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand is among reporters who have said that Watson and the Browns "know there is no reasonable pathway to co-existence after this season." Watson signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract as part of joining the Browns from the Houston Texans in March 2022. He has since made just 19 regular-season starts, and he hasn't played in a meaningful game since he suffered a torn Achilles in October 2024.

Andrew Berry opens up about Browns' Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson competition

The competition for the Browns' starting job involving Sanders and Watson is on track to run through at least Cleveland's preseason opener at the Chicago Bears on Aug. 15. Meanwhile, Berry was asked on Friday if Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam previously saying that Cleveland "took a big swing and miss" in acquiring Watson has any impact on Monken's handling of the team's quarterback room. 

"I think you deal with what you have," Berry explained. "You deal with how players progress or don’t progress. But honestly, the public discourse doesn’t really have a factor in terms of how we think about putting together the team, with Todd, in terms of putting together the best lineup. That really doesn’t play a factor into it."

Per reports, it sounds like Monken and his staff may need more than a few summer practices to determine which quarterback should be part of a "best lineup" come September.