Deshaun Watson has won the starting job in Cleveland, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Watson will be the Browns’ starting quarterback in their Week 1 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Watson had been in a battle for the job with former Colorado star Shedeur Sanders this fall. Assuming nothing changes between now and kickoff on Sept. 13, Watson will start his first NFL game since October 2024. Watson tore his Achilles in that contest, which knocked him out for the rest of the season. He re-ruptured his Achilles during rehab months later, which then sidelined him for all of last season, too.
Play Yahoo's new College Fantasy Football game: Create or join a league now! Watson has been the presumed starter in Cleveland once he became healthy, especially considering the Browns signed him to a fully guaranteed $240 million deal after landing him in a trade with the Houston Texans in 2022. But that trade has been called a "big swing and miss" by Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, and Watson has thrown just 19 touchdowns with the franchise. He also faced several lawsuits for sexual misconduct when he arrived in Cleveland dating back to his time in Houston, and he was suspended by the NFL for six games. Despite his struggles, both on the field and off, Watson had been competing with Sanders for the starting job this fall. That competition has been closer than many expected, and Browns fans hit Watson with loud boos multiple times during their preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, including after he threw a bad interception in the second half. "I think the whole world knows, it has nothing to do about performance," Watson said. "It's a little bit [more] personal than that. It's a disrespectful thing. I'm going to keep whatever I feel between me and my family. " So far in his Cleveland tenure, Watson has tallied a 9-10 record with 3,365 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Monken said Sunday that Watson's comments about the boos wouldn't factor into his decision. Clearly, with Watson getting the starting job, that was true.
"He emptied his heart a little bit, and I don't think that says who he is," Monken said Sunday, via ESPN. "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. "
With Watson in the starting role, that means that Sanders and Dillon Gabriel will be the backups this season. The second-year quarterbacks split starts during a tumultuous 2025 campaign. Sanders played in eight games and made seven starts. He went 3-4 with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions, but has looked much better during training camp and appeared to be a real threat to Watson in their quarterback battle. Gabriel saw action in 10 games and made six starts. The lefty had a 1-5 record and threw for 937 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. While things in Cleveland are still very fluid, and a future with Sanders leading the way isn't out of the question by any means, Watson is getting the nod first.
