Deshaun Watson Named Starter for the Browns

Deshaun Watson will start for the Cleveland Browns in their season opener in Jacksonville, head coach Todd Monken announced Monday morning.

Unfortunately for Browns fans, the competition for starting quarterback became a difficult decision for Cleveland’s leadership to make. Watson ended up beating out second-years Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel for the spot.

Preseason Performance

The unfortunate part is that none of the above quarterbacks have performed well at all in their time with the Browns, especially during this preseason.

In their first game against Chicago, all three QBs turned the ball over. Sanders and Gabriel both threw interceptions, while Watson lost a fumble.

In their second game against Buffalo, both Watson and Sanders threw interceptions, with Gabriel barely playing. While Sanders looked somewhat decent, as he at least went 9/11 with a touchdown, Watson looked abysmal. He completed less than half of his passes and had only 36 yards.

Both games resulted in blowouts with Cleveland on the wrong end. They have been outscored 65-17 so far, with poor quarterback play being a large part of their struggles.

The Deshaun Watson Dilemma

The Browns may be falling victim to a bit of a sunk-cost fallacy with Watson. They traded for Watson in March of 2022, sending six draft picks, including three first-round selections, to the Houston Texans. They subsequently signed him to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.

That move by Cleveland could have been unfavorable even if Watson wasn’t in an ethically contentious situation, which he was. At the time of the trade, he was involved in a litany of sexual assault lawsuits, 22 in total.

While he was not indicted on any of those charges, and many of them have since been settled, it still calls into question the ethical standards of a player who was seen as a franchise quarterback.

All of this may have been pushed to the side if Watson could play as well as he had at times for the Texans. We have certainly seen professional sports players, especially in the NFL, be partially excused from their off-the-field issues due to their on-field play.

Watson, however, has been terrible since joining the Browns. In three seasons in Cleveland, he has appeared in only 19 games. His completion percentage dropped by over 5% from his time in Houston, and he has been significantly less efficient.

Recent Comments & Cleveland Fans

The situation got even more contentious during the preseason. Watson has been relentlessly booed by his home fans in Cleveland. During a postgame interview, Watson claimed that the booing was “personal” and not due to his on-field performance.

Monken addressed Watson in the media frankly.

“You don’t want to get booed? Let’s play good football. Let’s play good at quarterback, on offense, and as a team, and then you won’t have to worry about all that, because it can turn just like that,” Monken said.

When it comes to Browns fans, and football fans in general, two things can be true at once. Watson may not be completely off-base when he said that the negativity was personal, but a lot of it also has to do with his poor play.

Watson subsequently addressed the media after being named the starter, saying that he didn’t intend to upset fans with his comments.

It remains to be seen how Watson will play this year in a real regular-season football game. He will have to prove himself during the first few games of the season, or else Cleveland’s starting quarterback position could turn into a revolving door, just as it was in 2025.

The quarterback room for the Browns continues its trend of being contentious at best, and a dumpster fire at worst.

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