The Cleveland Browns have made their quarterback decision, and it is the one the fan base spent an entire offseason dreading: Deshaun Watson will be the Week 1 starter, beating out second-year phenom Shedeur Sanders for the QB1 job. First-year head coach Todd Monken made it official Monday afternoon, confirming Watson will lead the Browns into Jacksonville on Sept. 13. The announcement lands barely 48 hours after Watson was booed relentlessly at Huntington Bank Field and then lashed out at the very fans who pay his fully guaranteed $230 million salary — which means the most controversial roster decision in franchise history is now also the most radioactive one in the NFL this preseason.
The Decision That Was Never Really a Competition
Monken did not dance around it. Asked why Watson beat out Sanders, the coach pointed at the film and the practice field, not the box score. "We felt over the course of training camp and the offseason" that Watson was ahead, Monken said, while acknowledging that Sanders "closed that gap" as camp wore on. Ultimately, Monken said, Watson gives the Browns "the best chance to move the ball and score points" at Jacksonville. He also made clear this is not a week-to-week experiment: the depth chart is the depth chart.
The raw numbers from the preseason make that call look defensible on paper and indefensible everywhere else. Watson completed 16 of 27 passes (59.3%) for 162 yards, no touchdowns and an interception across the first two exhibition games. Sanders was 15-of-22 (68.2%) for 153 yards, a touchdown and two picks. Neither lit the league on fire, and neither will play in Thursday's preseason finale against the New England Patriots — that stage belongs to Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green, who will also battle for the roster's fourth quarterback spot.
Saturday Night in Cleveland Changed the Stakes
Context matters here, and the context is ugly. In Cleveland's 31-7 preseason home loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, the crowd booed Watson on multiple occasions — loudly, deliberately, and long after the play clock mattered. Watson responded after the game by calling the treatment "disrespectful" and noting he gets "more love in road games," a quote that instantly became the most damaging thing a Browns player has said about the fan base since the team returned in 1999.
On Monday, Watson walked it back as far as he could without quite apologizing. "I thought I was gonna get a little different response, but I think my emotions got the best of me," he said. "My comments weren't intended to go at any of the fans around in the city, because there's been a lot of great fans that have been supporting me." He added: "I understand the frustration. I understand everything that kind of goes into that. ... I take full responsibility of that."
Monken insists the fan reaction played zero role in his decision. "The fans want us to win," he said. "Ultimately, put a good product on the field. That's really what they want." Whether the fans believe him is another matter entirely.
The $230 Million Elephant in the Room
It is worth remembering how the Browns got here. In March 2022, Cleveland shipped three first-round picks and additional draft capital to the Houston Texans for Watson, then handed him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract — the most aggressive quarterback bet in league history. Watson then served an 11-game suspension in 2022 related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. He has started just 19 regular-season games since, was arguably the worst starting quarterback in football during the 2024 season, and suffered two Achilles injuries — the first in October 2024 — that have kept him out of meaningful action ever since.
He has not played a regular-season snap in nearly two years, yet he is the Week 1 starter over a young quarterback the franchise spent a premium draft pick on. That is the reality Monken inherited, and it is the reality he just endorsed.
What the Analysts Are Saying — and What Comes Next
The reaction around the league was swift and brutal. On ESPN's First Take, Dan Orlovsky told Browns fans the only leverage they have left is the empty seat. "Browns fans should not go to games," Orlovsky said. "Why would I go to this game? At some point, there has to be a tipping point." His colleague Kevin Clark called the decision "pathetic," argued the Browns should have started Sanders and signed a different backup, and said he would have listed Watson behind both Gabriel and Green on the depth chart.
On the field, the immediate future is clear: Watson gets the Jaguars on the road in Week 1 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2, and the Browns' home opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 27 will be the first true temperature check. If Cleveland stumbles out of the gates at 0-2, the calls for Sanders will go from loud to deafening — and the coaching staff knows it. For now, though, Monken has bet his first season in charge on the most unpopular player in franchise history. Either Watson finally justifies the contract, or the Browns' quarterback saga enters yet another brutal chapter with the whole city watching.
Tyler Harlan
Tyler Harlan covers sports with an eye for rotations, trends, scheduling spots, and the game context that often gets overlooked.