Deshaun

Watson

Head coach Todd Monken has already said the team will have an “open competition” at quarterback this summer. Watson, who is returning from a torn Achilles he suffered in 2024, remains under contract through this season for what is the final year of the record-setting deal he signed in 2022. Watson’s deal makes him nearly impossible to move on from this offseason, as a release would count for an absurd $131 million in dead cap money. Assuming he’s healthy and on the roster, Watson should have every chance to win the job in camp and will likely have the inside edge over Shedeur Sanders, who struggled mightily as a rookie.

Monken praised Sanders’ “elite play-making ability” and said he will have a shot at the starting job for Week 1. The Browns currently have Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and Deshaun Watson on the roster as potential Week 1 starters. Given how poorly all three of them played in 2025, or 2024 for Watson, Cleveland will almost certainly be in the market for a veteran passer in free agency. Barring a surprise in the draft, the Browns will have plenty of options at quarterback, none of which inspire much confidence.

Between the smoke on Ty Simpson and Malik Willis and Berry refusing to really stamp a player as “in the lead” here, it sure feels like this situation is unsettled heading into free agency. Sanders probably enters training camp as the main favorite for the job if the Browns don’t sign Willis, but anything could happen there. Up to and including a drafted quarterback winning the organization over.

With two Pro Bowl quarterbacks already on the roster in Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, it’s hard to imagine the Browns wanting to add even more to an already loaded QB room. That said, Willis, who is expected to be a highly coveted free agent this offseason, and Simpson could both be considered as options to add to the offense in Todd Monken’s first year at the helm. Watson remains a true question mark entering 2026. While he is under contract with the Browns through next season, the early return on his record-setting deal has been disappointing. Watson is returning from a torn Achilles he suffered in 2024 and has thrown for just 3,365-19-12 in the 19 games he’s played in for them over three years. When it comes to Sanders, the rookie QB is coming off a brutal first season that featured more lows than highs, and as a fifth-round pick, he shouldn’t be viewed as a lock to be handed any starting job. The Browns will have plenty of time to discuss all options at the NFL Scouting Combine this week, but Willis and Simpson will be two names to watch as free agency and draft talk continues to ramp up.

The Browns have two first-round picks this year. Wolfe reports that the Browns believe they are “close to set” on defense and are expected to “go heavy on offense” in the 2026 NFL Draft. New head coach Todd Monken’s scheme is said to have more “flexibility” than former head coach Kevin Stefanski’s scheme did, and the Browns apparently believe Monken’s scheme could allow Shedeur Sanders to “use his play-making ability” more effectively. The Browns also “believe” Deshaun Watson will compete with Sanders for the starting role.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that Sanders is the long-term starter for the Browns — in fact, Jackson even says they’re probably looking at drafting another quarterback “fairly early” in this year’s draft. But it seems like the team is mostly playing its cards as if they’re getting ready for 2027, not 2026, with Deshaun Watson as “a fallback option because he has to be.” That should give Shedeur Sanders a chance to start in 2026 — he’ll need to do better than he did towards the end of 2025 to keep the job, however, incredibly funny Pro Bowl nod aside.

The settlements come just weeks before the cases were slated to reach court. They were among the 27 civil suits filed against Watson since 2021 by women accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage appointments. Watson was fined $5 million and suspended for 11 games in 2022. His career has since tanked. Watson has suffered multiple Achilles tendon ruptures and his on-field performance has been as poor as any starting QB in the NFL over the past few years. Entering his age-31 season, Watson will compete for Cleveland’s starting job this summer.

In an appearance for ESPN Cleveland radio, Fowler said he would “expect the Browns to add” to the quarterback room in the offseason. Fowler mentioned Alabama draft prospect Ty Simpson and impending free agent Malik Willis as options to “shake up” the quarterback situation under new head coach Todd Monken. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel were underwhelming as rookies while Deshaun Watson is still in Cleveland coming off an Achilles injury and still holding a large cap hit. If Fowler’s words are any indication, we could see another name or two added to the mix this offseason.

“Early signs point to Sanders getting to compete for the job, [Deshaun] Watson being stuck on the roster and another quarterback addition in the middle rounds of the draft,” Jackson continues. Guess who is being left out of that quarterback room by omission? Gabriel was reportedly a Kevin Stefanski favorite in the draft process and — our speculation, not Jackson’s — might be traded to Stefanski’s new team this offseason. It’s also possible the team gives us another four-quarterback training camp show.

This has been expected all along. It’s unknown how Watson factors into next year’s plan at quarterback for the Browns — CBS’ Jonathan Jones suggested he could compete for the job in training camp with Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. But his anvil of a contract is untradeable and releasing him with a post-June 1 cap hit would not save the Browns a single dollar currently after they restructured it yet again in 2025 to keep the roster in some semblance of order. It’s possible they could restructure it again in 2026 and continue kicking the can down the road so they can put a functional offensive line on the field next year. Watson’s current 2026 cap hit is $80,716,514.