Browns insider addresses repeated narrative about Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson competition

Numerous members of the NFL community have suggested that first-year Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken should name Shedeur Sanders the team's 2026 Week 1 starting quarterback because "Cleveland needs to figure out what it has in Sanders" and because veteran Deshaun Watson seemingly has no long-term future with the Browns.

During a Thursday appearance on Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer hinted that conversations about the franchise's future won't impact who Monken starts at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.

Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson will be involved in "a very heated battle" this summer

"It really is going to come down to who is going to give them the best chance to win," Cabot said about the eventual winner of the Browns' quarterback battle. "And it's going to be difficult to figure that out. Because until the lights are on, until you're getting sacked and hit and having to read the defenses and do all of those kinds of things in a live game, it's going to be really tricky to determine who gives them the best chance to win. But I think it's going to be an incredibly, incredibly lively training camp. I think it's going to be a very heated battle."

Watson reportedly will enter the start of training camp later in July holding at least a slight lead over Sanders to win the Week 1 gig. However, it was recently said that Monken may want to see if Sanders can "flip the switch" and "embrace the process of checking various boxes in practice" before the Browns open the preseason with a game at the Chicago Bears on Aug. 15.

Browns to Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson: May the best man win

"I think you can see that the stakes are really high," Cabot continued. "These guys are already going all out in their summer break to prove that they want this job. Deshaun comes back into town, and before you know it, Shedeur comes back too. They're battling it out. So it's going to be intense, it's going to be heated and let the best man win."

As of the morning of July 16, one can only guess whether Sanders or Watson will look like "the best man" versus Chicago. That game may prove to be just part of a process that runs through Cleveland's preseason finale versus the New England Patriots on Aug. 27.