There’s a clear favorite to be the Cleveland Browns’ starter at quarterback for the 2026 season. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t the 30-year-old coming off a twice-ruptured Achilles tendon who hasn’t thrown an NFL pass since the middle of the 2024 regular season.
Cleveland’s quarterback mess has been complicated this offseason by the chatter about Deshaun Watson, who’s healthy and has already been featured in multiple workout videos, throwing passes to Browns wide receivers. Naturally, there’s been plenty of buzz around the veteran returning to his former Pro Bowl form with the Houston Texans, winning the Browns’ looming quarterback competition, and leading the Browns into the Todd Monken era.
None of that is rooted in reality, though. Monken hinted to reporters at the NFL’s annual league meetings in Phoenix that Shedeur Sanders, who started the team’s final seven games last season, would likely get the bulk of the early reps once that phase of the offseason program arrives. Watson’s presence, and the team’s insistence on an open competition, has fueled intrigue, but the facts are he hasn’t played at a high level in years, is coming off a brutal injury, and is only still on the roster because his fully-guaranteed contract doesn’t feasibly allow him to be released or traded until March of 2027.
Unless the Browns send their fans into orbit and spend a first-round pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson in this year's draft, Sanders is poised to be the depth-chart leader when the team begins its on-field work ahead of training camp.
Former NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, now an analyst for ESPN, refreshingly ignored the doomsday narratives and delivered the take Browns fans should be clinging to ahead of the draft this month.
“So I think what they’re going to do is, I really don’t think Watson has a shot,” Hasselbeck said during a recent episode of NFL Live. “He’s been away from the game for so long. He’s had basically two Achilles injuries. I think his credibility in the locker room has been compromised because of his past.
“So I think Shedeur Sanders finds himself in a remarkable position to be a fifth-round draft pick, to have a losing record as a starter as a rookie, and have a legitimate chance to be the starting quarterback the following season, it doesn’t happen often. In fact, I don’t think I can remember another scenario like that in the National Football League. So if they don’t draft a quarterback — and I think there’s a lot of people that believe that they won't — I think he’s got a good chance. He should be in the building to try to prove that he can play at a starter’s level.”
Why Browns fans shouldn’t fall for the Deshaun Watson hype this offseason
Watson’s pending return to the field has led to some wild takes. There’s even been some discussion over what Watson’s next contract with Cleveland could look like.
The truth is that the Browns have been planning for Watson’s release at the start of the 2027 league year since December of 2024, when they reworked his contract to create a multi-year exit plan. While GM Andrew Berry refused to rule anything out with Watson, both for this season and beyond, he’s just playing the PR game. The Browns obviously aren’t going to completely bury a veteran player who they know will have to be carried on the roster for another calendar year.
Hasselbeck nailed it. If Watson plays meaningful snaps for the Browns in 2026, something’s gone terribly wrong. Monken has worked his whole life to be an NFL head coach. He clearly has a strong connection with Sanders. He’s obviously going to look to leverage the young QB’s strong finish to the 2025 season, rather than running it back with a veteran who may be completely washed at this point.
Cleveland’s decision to pass on adding a quarterback in free agency last month is telling, and it definitely doesn’t signal a newfound belief in Watson. It’s a clear nod toward the team’s belief in Sanders, who on a cheap contract as a fifth-round pick, brings the team roster value and hope as a still untapped 24-year-old prospect.
The team is poised to give Sanders every opportunity to prove that he's earned the chance to continue as the starter. All signs have pointed that way. The national media just doesn’t want to pay attention.
Browns fans shouldn’t brush off Hasselbeck’s comments. Let the masses go overboard about Watson’s offseason workout videos throwing passes in shorts and a T-shirt. Once the team gets back on the grass for real this summer, it’ll be Sanders’ job to lose.