The Cleveland Browns are in a similar spot as many other teams around the league are in. They find themselves, yet again, trying to figure out who their Week 1 quarterback is going to be to start the 2026 NFL season.
New head coach Todd Monken has made it abundantly clear that Shedeur Sanders does not have the starting role locked up, and that this quarterback room and competition are wide open. With that in mind, the Browns have a potentially long road ahead of them between the upcoming draft, training camp, and the preseason.
Sanders isn’t a lock to start, and it seems like the Browns are going to give Deshaun Watson opportunities, which is what analyst Daryl Ruiter talked about in a recent segment of 92.3’s The Fan.
“They really are prepared to give Deshaun a chance at this thing this year,” Ruiter said.
“They really are prepared to give Deshaun a chance at this thing this year.”
➡️ @RuiterWrongFAN and @NickPedone12 discuss how Deshaun Watson fits into the #Browns QB conversation, impacts any potential move in free agency/trade pic.twitter.com/BObJ8zMVv7
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) March 1, 2026
Whether fans like him or not, Watson could get a very real shot at becoming the Browns’ starter to open the upcoming season. He hasn’t come close to delivering what the team expected of him when they signed him to a massive deal. If he’s healthy, however, they could give him a shot and see what happens, at the very least.
If things stay the same for the Browns, quarterback-wise, they’ll enter the 2026 campaign with Watson, Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel on the depth chart. The team seemed to give up on Gabriel relatively quickly, and if the new coaches share the same opinion of him, he could go away quietly.
This would quickly become a two-horse race, and while Watson hasn’t played competent football in some time, he was an MVP candidate at one point in his career. If the Browns see any flashes of that leading up to the season, they might roll with Watson out of the gates and figure out if he can get back to his former ways. Otherwise, it could be another long season for this organization and its fans.
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Insider Names 3 WRs Browns Will Likely Target In Draft