Anyone wishing for certainty and clarity from the Cleveland Browns this summer is surely disappointed because the team still hasn’t revealed who its starting quarterback will be in 2026. Yes, fans are quite sure that it’s a two-man race between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, but that’s basically all they know.
It feels like every day brings a new rumor about who holds the advantage in that race, but Field Yates recently said the decision will come down to one factor: who performs best during training camp. Whoever comes out on top in camp needs to be the Browns’ starting quarterback in Week 1.
According to Yates, Sanders might have the upper hand right now, but that could change based on how training camp goes.
“I lean towards Shedeur Sanders more [to give them the best chance to win] because we’ve seen him play most recently. What I would say though, is that this is the truest quarterback competition in the NFL. Whoever performs best in training camp should be the Week 1 starter. There are other quarterback competitions where, if you have a young quarterback and he narrowly outperforms the veteran quarterback, I still would lean on the veteran early in the season to alleviate some of the pressure on a young player. In Cleveland, whether it’s Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, maybe even Dillon Gabriel, whichever one performs best in training camp should be on the field for that opening week,” Yates said.
"This is the truest quarterback competition in the NFL." @FieldYates on the Browns' starting QB battle between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson 🏈 pic.twitter.com/5IDHq5WNMj
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) June 30, 2026
Competitions are exciting and can be fun to witness, but some Browns fans feel like they are on the outside looking in, waiting for any big updates about QB1. For months now, they have been told conflicting reports, and now they just want to know where things stand.
Unfortunately, they will continue to wait because Todd Monken isn’t going to make his final choice until he sees all the evidence he needs. That means training camp, which is still weeks away, could be the determining factor.
However, this competition may go beyond that. There is a chance that Monken still hasn’t made his choice when preseason games start.
Ultimately, that could be good news for the Browns because it may mean that both Sanders and Watson are playing so well that they make the choice nearly impossible. Therefore, Cleveland could have two ready-to-play QBs at their disposal when 2026 kicks off.
This competition has gone on for months, and it’ll likely last for several more weeks, at the earliest, but just because fans aren’t hearing anything doesn’t mean the Browns aren’t hard at work making this crucial and franchise-altering decision.
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