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BEREA, Ohio — Deshaun Watson will open the season as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Watson, 30, emerged as the starter in a competition with second-year player Shedeur Sanders that began in the offseason workout program and stretched into the first two preseason games.
The Browns face the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road in Week 1.
The decision comes despite Watson’s struggles in the second preseason game Saturday, during which he completed 5 of 12 passes for 35 yards and one interception over four second-half drives. Watson was also met with boos in his first home game since recovering from a torn Achilles, a reaction that he called “disrespectful.” Sanders started Saturday’s game after Watson started the Browns’ preseason opener against the Chicago Bears.
Watson has struggled as Browns’ QBOf the 50 quarterbacks with at least 15 starts since Deshaun Watson joined the Browns in 2022, only Will Levis has a lower Total QBR.
QuarterbackQBRWill Levis28.9Deshaun Watson33.1Cam Ward33.2Zach Wilson34Davis Mills38.6– ESPN ResearchThe seats at Huntington Bank Field were half-full, but the boos were pronounced when Watson took the field at the beginning of the second half and as he struggled.”I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance,” Watson mentioned. “It’s a little bit [more] personal than that. So I think it’s a disrespectful thing. So yeah, I mean, I’m going to keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that. And yeah, just move on.”
Browns coach Todd Monken mentioned Sunday that Watson’s comments would not factor into his decision.
“He emptied his heart a little bit, and I don’t think that says who he is,” Monken mentioned Sunday. “I see the competitor in him. I see the every-day work he puts in, and he wants to be back. He wants to get back to where he was as best he can, and that’s hard. And again, I think the moment just got him after the game, and it can get all of us.”
The Browns’ first two games of the 2026 season are on the road — at Jacksonville and then at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — before returning home to face the Carolina Panthers in Week 3.
Watson split first-team reps with Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round pick, through offseason workouts and training camp. In his start against the Bears, Watson completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards, and he lost a fumble.
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Watson has been a polarizing figure in Cleveland since the Browns traded three first-round picks to the Houston Texans to acquire him in March 2022 and gave him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions.
Two Texas grand juries declined to pursue criminal charges against Watson a week before his trade to Cleveland, but he served an 11-game suspension to begin his tenure with the Browns. He also paid a $5 million fine and completed a treatment program after the NFL and NFL Players Association reached a settlement in August 2022 on his disciplinary matter.
Since joining the Browns, Watson has failed to recapture the Pro Bowl form he showcased in Houston, posting a 33.1 QBR that would rank last if he had enough starts to qualify.
Watson has a 9-10 record as the Browns’ starting quarterback, and his past two seasons as the starter have ended due to injury. In the 2023 season, Watson underwent season-ending surgery following a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right throwing shoulder. This injury forced Watson to miss the final nine games of the 2023 season, including the team’s AFC wild-card loss to the Texans. Watson did not play in the 2025 season after undergoing two surgeries to address a torn right Achilles tendon he sustained in October 2024.
The Browns also have second-year quarterback Dillon Gabriel and sixth-round pick Taylen Green on the roster.
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