Deshaun Watson has more picks than your average tipster and is somehow still a surefire bet to start Week 1.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback race is officially still wide open, but Watson was given the majority of first-team reps over the weekend despite it being Shedeur Sanders’ turn in the rotation.
Owner Jimmy Haslam has invested $230 million in the 30-year-old and despite eight interceptions in nine days it appears that head coach Todd Monken is going to give the man who holds the purse strings what he wants.
“Shedeur will take the majority of the one reps today,” the former Baltimore Ravens OC said Saturday.
Watson got almost every single valuable rep, and according to beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot, already knew before Monken spoke to the media.
“As it turns out, Watson knew right after the walk-through at about noon that he was going with the ones on Saturday, a source told cleveland.com — which was about 45 minutes before Monken told the media that Sanders was still the Day 10 QB1,” she wrote.
Cleveland is falling into the trap of a sunk-cost fallacy. Watson’s contract was fully-guaranteed. He is getting that money no matter what happens, so instead of playing him to get whatever “value” you can, why not do what’s best for the team?
NFL Weekly Newsletter – SIGN UP!
talkSPORT is your home for NFL in the UK as we launch our biggest year of coverage yet!
2026 promises to be an epic year for NFL on talkSPORT – and we want you to join us for the ride.
SIGN UP HERE!
This season will be our biggest ever with live commentary of 90+ games, including behind-the-scenes access to international games and all three London fixtures, plus bumper coverage of Super Bowl 61 at SoFi Stadium.
Exclusive interviews, hard-hitting opinion, latest front-office drama and top breaking news – all delivered straight to your inbox each week.
Like it or not, that’s Sanders.
Not because he’ll be under center when the gleaming new stadium opens in 2029, but because that is your best chance to secure the man who could be, and throw the Dawg Pound a bone while you’re at it.
If Watson starts Week 1, he’ll probably get booed. Shedeur will at least start the season on the right foot but right now Cleveland radio is predicting Shedeur may not be long for the roster.
Cleveland Browns must target QB in 2027 Draft
However if he tanks Cleveland into a great pick in next year’s QB-laden NFL Draft, he will have done more for the franchise than his much more expensive teammate ever could.
The Browns can say they gave the son of a Hall of Famer every chance to prove himself, and then take a shot at Peyton and Eli’s heir apparent Arch Manning, or whichever QB is the consensus No. 1 pick — I think it’s time the Browns front office stopped pretending it was capable of grading QBs.
3
3
For once, the situation isn’t actually that dire in Cleveland.
The class of 2025 brought some promising rookies and while trading away Myles Garrett was obviously a blow to the defense, Jared Verse can be a cornerstone for years.
Unfortunately, the Rams’ first-round pick isn’t likely to be an early one as Sean McVay assembles a superteam.
But it could be enough to trade up should the Browns accidentally win a few games and lose the No. 1 pick.
As my colleague Alex Worth argued yesterday, bad MLB teams should adopt the Chicago White Sox model and launch head first into a tank rather than dipping a toe in the water.
I think that time is here in Ohio. With a Super Bowl targeted new stadium on the horizon, it is time for project quarterback to finally pay off.
Oh, and if Andrew Berry gets this one wrong, it might be time to move on as well.
In today’s NFL, a general manager lasting for several years after pulling off possibly the worst trade in football history is an anomaly.
Haslam — the man who traded away Garrett and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the same summer — must know something we don’t.
