The Cleveland Browns are trying to sell the football world on a Deshaun Watson revival tour, but not everyone is buying the pitch. ESPN analyst Dan Graziano shut down the notion that Watson is the favorite to win the quarterback job over Shedeur Sanders this offseason.
Why Dan Graziano Projects Shedeur Sanders as the Browns’ Starter
Team owner Jimmy Haslam praised Watson at last week’s owners meetings in Phoenix, suggesting the veteran had a great chance to reclaim his starting status under new head coach Todd Monken. Haslam even compared Watson’s potential bounce-back to the career resurgence Sam Darnold recently experienced.
Graziano took the opposite stance during a recent broadcast of ESPN’s “Get Up.”
“I think the most likely scenario here is he begins the offseason and opens the season as the starter,” Graziano said. “I know the owner, Jimmy Haslam, said something about Deshaun Watson having a great chance. Deshaun Watson has played 19 games in the last five years; they don’t have any idea what they’re going to get from him.
“He’s under contract for one more year, they basically have to have him on the roster at this point. Could a light go on and he’ll be fine? Possibly, but my sense of it is, Shedeur Sanders is the strongest candidate to open the season right now.”
The financial baggage attached to Watson makes him impossible to ignore, but his production makes him impossible to trust. He has suited up for just 19 games since signing his historic $230 million guaranteed contract in 2022.
Multiple season-ending injuries and a lengthy suspension have derailed his tenure in Cleveland. Relying on Watson to anchor a playoff push requires a massive leap of faith that most national analysts are unwilling to take.
Why the Browns Need to See What Shedeur Sanders Can Do
Sanders certainly took his lumps as a fifth-round rookie in 2025. He was thrust into the starting lineup for the final 7 games of a lost season, throwing for 1,400 yards with 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He took 23 sacks behind a struggling offensive line while leading Cleveland to a 3-4 record down the stretch. He finished the season with a PFSN QB Impact metric grade of F and a ranking of 46th in the league.
There were impressive flashes of brilliance hidden inside that uneven production. His breakout moment arrived in Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans. Sanders erupted for 364 passing yards and accounted for 4 total touchdowns, showing the exact type of playmaking ability that made him a household name in college.
Dan Graziano of ESPN says the most likely scenario for the Browns is Shedeur Sanders opening the season as their starting quarterback.
“I think the most likely scenario here is [Shedeur Sanders] begins the offseason and likely begins the season as the starter. I know the owner,… pic.twitter.com/dvpfrBjKXS
— BrownsNation.com (@BrownsNationcom) April 6, 2026
Despite the expected rookie growing pains, Sanders represents the only real developmental upside currently residing in the Cleveland quarterback room. Watson is a depreciating asset carrying significant dead money implications. Gabriel is a depth piece fighting for a roster spot.
If Monken truly has an open competition brewing, the distribution of first-team reps will tell the real story during the upcoming OTAs. Monken was hired to fix a broken offense, and his scheme requires a quarterback who can make quick decisions and hit deep shots.
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The Browns cannot afford to hand Watson the job simply to justify a massive financial blunder. Graziano clearly recognizes the shifting power dynamics inside the building.
Cleveland built its recent coaching search around finding the right offensive mind to maximize Sanders. Pivoting away from that developmental plan now to placate a highly paid veteran makes very little football sense. The Browns need to find out if they drafted a franchise quarterback last spring, and they cannot answer that crucial question with Sanders holding a clipboard.
