Maybe Deshaun Watson was always bound to win the job. The signs could have told us as much.
He got the first reps with the first team more often than not. He has more experience across more offenses. He did everything right this summer in terms of work ethic and demeanor. When Todd Monken gave Watson the start in the first preseason game, alongside the starters, it was another sign, this one the biggest of all. When Monken said Watson's incendiary shots at Browns fans after an awful preseason Week 2 showing wouldn't play a role in the choice, it was yet another sign.
So when news leaked Monday that Watson indeed won the quarterback battle over Shedeur Sanders and will start Week 1 against the Jaguars, it was no surprise.
Let me clarify: It was no surprise the Browns made yet another mistake regarding Watson, arguably the worst trade acquisition in pro sports history.
I will not pretend to know one one-hundredth of what Monken has already forgotten about football. There are legitimate football reasons Monken -- a very good offensive coach for a long time -- made this decision. His job is to do what he thinks will make his team better, not appease fans or media or anyone outside the organization, really. Watson has experience with systems and concepts similar to Monken's. This decision was made with hundreds of data points in mind, most of which are unseen by the public, from games to practices to meetings to workouts to everything else in between. I'm not privy to 99% of what went into this decision.
I can still confidently say it's the wrong one, even if it's right in a football sense. Watson's performance on and off the field Saturday is justification enough. After a truly terrible outing that included a rookie-esque interception, several misfires on open opportunities downfield and several moments of sheer panic the moment he felt pressure, Watson decided to lash out at Browns fans about ... everything.
About the booing? "I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance. It's a little bit more personal than that. So, I think it's a disrespectful thing."
About the injuries? "Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles. That same fan base, they cheered when I got hurt. What does that have to do with anything about performance? When a person gets hurt, especially in your home stadium, and they cheer."
He even played victim. "I thought being away for two years and working myself back from two Achilles injuries and putting the time in, being around the facility, being around the city, doing charity work in the city, supporting the Cleveland Browns, hanging out with fans whenever I do see them, being honest, being the type of person I know I am, and the character would help, and I guess it hasn't."
Monken saw and heard that and wanted more of it?
Browns fans boo Watson for reasons bigger than Watson. They boo him for his truly awful play, yes, and for the truly awful things he's been accused of doing to other human beings, but they boo him for more than that.
They boo him because they can't boo Jimmy Haslam -- at least not as a guy who actually plays. The Browns' owner decided, even amid the then-22 civil lawsuits filed against Watson, to not only trade three first-round picks (and more) for Watson in 2022, but to then give him an unprecedented fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.
They boo him because he is the reason the Browns have continued to be among the NFL's worst teams, even with one of the best defenders of all-time, Myles Garrett, on the roster -- and now Garrett is gone, another five years wasted and still no winning future in sight.
They boo him because two-time Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski is gone, too, and having Watson made it almost impossible for him to build a winner. The two times he did build winners, it was without Watson.
They boo him because they can't escape him or his outrageous contract or his horrible play, and now he's being put front and center again.
Browns fans want to win, as every other fanbase does. But they also want to not be embarrassed. The Watson trade and contract were one thing. The atrocious play since then is another. Watching awful quarterbacking is a weekly tradition in Cleveland. Watching it and feeling trapped, though, is a whole different animal.
In 2024, 39 quarterbacks threw at least 200 passes. Of those 39, Watson ranked ...
- Last in yards per attempt
- Last in explosive play rate
- Last in sack rate
- Last in success rate
- Last in expected points added per dropback
We can take it back farther. Since 2010, there have been 581 instances of a player throwing at least 200 passes in a season. Watson's 2024 success rate ranked 572nd out of those 581. Basically, every other player behind him, we never heard from -- at least as a starting quarterback -- again. Jimmy Clausen, Ryan Lindley, Blaine Gabbert, Brady Quinn, Tim Tebow, Mike Glennon. That's the company. Read it and weep.
But Watson just keeps popping back up, like a Whac-A-Mole. Two years later -- and, for Watson, two Achilles tears later -- he is somehow back again. It's a nightmare the Browns can't escape. Those cheers Watson remembers from when he tore his Achilles in 2024? Maybe some fans were cheering for the injury, and I can't say I agree with that. But maybe fans were cheering that they had finally escaped the Deshaun Watson nightmare. Instead, it's back, now with a vengeance.
"It's a mental battle every day," Watson said. "I feel like I get more love on road games than I do home games. If it is my spot and he does makes me the [starter], maybe it's 17 away games then. I don't know."
The Browns open with two road games, but what makes Monken or Watson think Week 3 at home will be any better than Saturday's disaster? Watson will get booed heavily. He won't play well, but that's beside the point. He probably won't react well, either. Is that truly the way Monken wants to build this franchise?
The football is almost irrelevant, though try telling that to Monken. Sanders might indeed be a worse quarterback than Watson, though even I have significant doubts. Again, it's Monken's job to put the players he feels are best on the field. Anything else would be disingenuous. In that regard, his choice is "right." In every other regard, it's wrong.
One day, the Browns will move on. But that day, sadly, isn't today. Watson will play. Sanders will play. The Browns will lose. The world will keep turning, one mistake by the lake at a time.
What's next for Shedeur Sanders?
If you want to be a Sanders optimist -- and don't let me stop you -- we can look at it this way: Sanders will play this year, whether due to Watson injury or ineffectiveness. The best path forward for Sanders will be to continue what he's done. Work hard. Impress with the second team. Be a good teammate. Be prepared the moment he's called upon.
"I thought he did a lot of really good things," Monken said after Saturday's game. "I'm really proud of him and where he's come from. From the moment I got here until now, very impressive."
That's real praise.
Similarly, Sanders said he's "improved every aspect of [his] life." He was a beacon of positivity -- and a stark contrast to Watson -- before the quarterback decision; he has to remain so after the decision.
The start to Sanders' career has been a difficult one, some self-inflicted, but much not. Opportunity is still right there. He is not doomed to be a backup, just as he wasn't doomed to be a backup last year; he started seven games.
The Browns aren't going to trade Sanders. He is a young player on a team trying to build, and much of 2026 will be collecting information on who can help that build, even if no player or coach will admit it. That's why Sanders' continued progress, even as a backup, is essential. Maybe it's to be a starter. Maybe it's to be a good backup. Maybe it's for a job elsewhere.
Sanders will get his shot, and what more can he really ask for? It is a disappointment that the shot isn't in Week 1? Sure. Sanders has to keep plugging away regardless.
In the grand scheme of things, the Browns almost certainly don't have their 2027 quarterback on their roster. That's not a shot at Sanders or any of their quarterbacks. It's a simple truth. The countdown to a post-Watson world has been underway in Cleveland for years.
Maybe Sanders can shock everyone and show enough to be the guy. The chances are, admittedly, tiny, but they're not zero. The NFL is full of chances, and Sanders will get his. At this point, that's all he can ask for.
