On one hand, the Cleveland Browns will officially kick off a new era in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Bears, with the no-nonsense Todd Monken patrolling the sidelines for the first time as an NFL head coach.
On the other hand, Browns fans can’t seem to escape the most painful era in their franchise’s history — and they woke up on game-day morning ready to let owner Jimmy Haslam and company hear about it.
The Browns announced Deshaun Watson as their starter for the Bears game following Wednesday’s practice. If Watson ends up winning the starting job for Week 1 of the regular season, as this competition appears to be heading, Cleveland’s social media team might have to get creative to keep things civil in the comments sections.
The Browns posted a graphic featuring only Watson with the caption “Browns preseason football is here,” and the comments were… colorful. See it here for yourself:
Browns preseason football is here 😤 pic.twitter.com/8ENslgugY8
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 15, 2026
Zac Jackson of The Athletic may have put it best:
“The comments show that the Deshaun Watson soft launch is going just about as expected.”
The Browns could have a hard time selling fans on the 2026 season
Browns fans are going to be engaged no matter what. That’s what you get from one of the most loyal and passionate fan bases in all of sports.
But the closer we get to real football returning, the more real it’s becoming that Watson will be back in the Browns’ offensive huddle.
Cleveland managed to put itself in an impossible situation this offseason. Watson hasn’t played a real snap since October of 2024, now attempting to return from a twice-torn Achilles tendon. But general manager Andrew Berry opted not to add any serious competition to the quarterback room, likely due to Watson’s $46 million base salary that kept the team's hands tied.
The Watson era has obviously been a disaster, from the unprecedented fully-guaranteed contract Haslam approved back in 2022, to the three first-round picks, among other draft capital, it took to acquire him from Houston. That part is understood.
The most brutal part is the Bermuda Triangle effect. Every time Browns fans feel like they’ve found an exit from the Watson debacle, they somehow end up feeling like they're right back where they started.
It felt like the end was near in January of 2025, when Watson re-ruptured his Achilles while rehabbing his initial injury. There was a sense among Browns fans that the team would find a merciful way out of Watson’s albatross contract, either by an injury settlement, insurance, or some other act from the football gods (who owe them one).
But the reality of this situation has been hidden in the details of Watson’s contract, which was adjusted in December of 2024. The true exit plan has always been March of 2027, when the Browns will designate Watson as a post-June 1 release. They’ll carry sizable dead-cap hits in 2027 and 2028 after that move, but they’ll be done paying Watson, which will be a major boost to the team’s annual cash flow.
So while fans are understandably voicing their displeasure now, this was always an unavoidable situation for 2026. The cap penalties baked into Watson’s contract make him impossible to cut or trade this year. He’s tethered to the roster, and while Haslam can just eat some big checks and sit Watson on the bench, the situation is complicated even more by him potentially being the best quarterback in the room this summer.
It’s just another year of the vicious cycle that is Browns football. And the vitriol in the air will only intensify the more Watson gets shoved in fans' faces.
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