Shedeur Sanders finally made his 2026 debut for the Cleveland Browns in last week’s loss against the New Orleans Saints. It obviously wasn’t the result many had hoped for, but Sanders had arguably his best performance as a pro and threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
While his outing was strong, head coach Todd Monken didn’t hesitate to say that Deshaun Watson remains the starter and will be under center on Sunday when the Houston Texans come to town. In another timeline, perhaps Sanders’ performance would have been enough to earn him the starting job, but Watson has had a strong comeback season and has this team in the AFC playoff race, so until anything changes, it’s his job until proven otherwise.
ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi touched on this topic during a recent episode of The Really Big Show. He believes that Sanders’ role could be revisited in a month or so depending on how these next few games go.
“I think we’ll revisit it after this month at home, after these four games,” Grossi said.
"I think we'll revisit it after this month at home, after these 4 games," – @TonyGrossi on when the Browns might consider to playing Shedeur Sanders again.
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Cq93VW2mVz
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) November 12, 2026
Cleveland is still in the playoff mix in the AFC, but the tide will really start to turn if the Browns can’t take out the Texans on Sunday. Dropping back to .500 in a conference this top-heavy will make it tough to get back in the mix with the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, and Cincinnati Bengals currently occupying the Wild Card spots.
Three of Cleveland’s next four games are against teams under .500 with a huge matchup against the Bengals in there as well. This is the deciding stretch of this season that will dictate whether or not the Browns are legitimate contenders or not.
Don’t stick a fork in Watson just yet. He has led game-winning drives in every victory this season and will remain the starter until he proves he doesn’t deserve it anymore. The silver lining is that Sanders looks ready in case his number is called.
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