Cleveland Browns fans are no strangers to quarterback competition, but at least this year’s competition has half as many guys as last year’s. Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson are battling it out in training camp, and early reports indicate that while Watson has been the favorite all offseason, Sanders is twisting the screws day by day.
With Watson’s gigantic contract finally nearing its end after 2026 and Sanders heading into what could be a do-or-die campaign for himself as well given the fact that the Browns have two first-rounders in 2027. They don’t have much time to prove themselves, so the pressure is on and ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently shared his latest intel about the situation.
During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Schefter said that the Browns are long-playing this situation and are simply going to let the play do the talking.
“I think there’s going to be a lot that plays out this summer. Shedeur Sanders has looked better and better and looked more and more comfortable. They’re going to let these two guys duke it out this summer, play in the preseason, we’ll see which guy rises up. I think it’s anybody’s job right now,” said Schefter.
"This is a real quarterback competition in Cleveland..
The Browns are gonna let this play out and we'll see which guy rises up" ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/4dT6GY8UOz
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 31, 2026
This competition wasn’t supposed to take this long, but after Sanders’ impressive OTA session earlier in the offseason, all of a sudden the Browns had a real competition on their hands. With a new coaching staff in town as well, it makes sense why they’d want to take all the time they can to come to a decision.
Schefter joked that you know it’s a real quarterback competition because insiders keep sharing all the quarterbacks’ stats from camp every day. So far, Sanders has had the noticeable leg up and may gradually be winning over the locker room as well.
Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green deserve a shoutout for their production in camp as well even though they have no chance to start. In Gabriel’s case, he may be auditioning for another team because just like last offseason, there’s not a real path where this team heads into Week 1 with four quarterbacks.
This isn’t the QB room most fans wanted, but there is some upside there if one or both of these gunslingers can live up to their abilities. With so much more talent around them than previous QBs have had over the past few years, at least the fans will know without a doubt whether or not these QBs can be the answer this time around.
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