All offseason, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Deshaun Watson would be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns when Week 1 of the 2026 season gets underway. His disparaging postgame comments about the fans after an embarrassing preseason performance led many to believe that he wouldn’t play for the Browns again. Todd Monken ultimately named him the starter and Shedeur Sanders the backup despite a solid camp and OTA session earlier in the offseason.
Watson will now take his 7-1 career record against the Jacksonville Jaguars into a tough Week 1 matchup hoping to win the fans back over and turn this franchise around. If he doesn’t, he will be facing quite a raucous reaction when the Browns take the field for their home opener in Week 3 if he happens to bring this team back home with an 0-2 start.
Former general manager Ran Carthon believes it’s in the cards for Shedeur Sanders to take over rather quickly, perhaps even as soon as Week 3. During an appearance on Afternoon Drive, Carthon said he believes Sanders played well enough to win this job and that Watson will be on a short leash.
“I thought Shedeur played well enough. I do believe Deshaun Watson will be on a short leash and, at some point, we will see Shedeur in the lineup as the QB,” said Carthon.
"I thought Shedeur played well enough. I do believe Deshaun Watson will be on a short leash and, at some point, we will see Shedeur in the lineup as the QB."
➡️ Former NFL GM and @SiriusXMNFL analyst @RanCarthon w/ @NickWilsonSays and @JPeterlin on the #Browns QB situation https://t.co/e99tYCvsHe pic.twitter.com/nYL4JdxivS
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) September 3, 2026
Teams have benched starting quarterbacks in Week 1 before, so you never know what’s going to happen. The Browns benched Joe Flacco in Week 4 last season, so there is certainly precedent for a quick hook if Watson is unable to rediscover his old skills.
Carthon isn’t alone in believing that Sanders played well enough to win this job. Even though he threw picks in both of his preseason outings, Watson had a miserable preseason as well and threw a ton of picks in camp. Reports said that this was ultimately Monken’s decision and didn’t come down from the front office or ownership, but it’s still hard to believe that based on what we saw.
On paper, Watson is a better fit in Monken’s offense due to his mobility and athleticism. The big question is how much of those two things still exist in Watson’s body after all he has been through. He has shown some juice in preseason, which is something Sanders doesn’t do as a quarterback, so he could prove some people wrong if he can scramble and extend plays like he used to do.
Many Browns fans will never get on board with this, and it’s possible Monken is starting Watson with the assumption that he’s going to have to make a move in a few weeks. Perhaps this truly is one last shot and the Browns want to know for good that it is safe to move on from this $230 million mistake.
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