The quarterback conundrums for the Cleveland Browns remain unending. After an extremely complicated situation in 2025, it seemed like the franchise was sticking with Shedeur Sanders, at least for the time being.
However, alongside a change in the head coaching ranks, those plans seem to have gone awry. Instead of unilaterally proceeding with the second-generation superstar, the organization is holding a quarterback competition with Deshaun Watson.
Deshaun Watson Could Take the Edge over Shedeur Sanders
Starting the final seven games of the season, Sanders ended the 2025 campaign with 1,400 passing yards and 7 touchdowns on his ledger, alongside 169 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground as well.
However, he completed under 60% of his passes and cost the Browns 10 interceptions. As a result, he finished the year with a passer rating of 68.1 and ranked second-to-last on PFSN’s QB Impact Metrics.
Still, given his youth and relative inexperience, alongside another clear-cut option available for them, it seemed like he would keep the starting job for the time being. But a returning Watson, who missed the entire 2025 season with a torn Achilles, has altered those plans.
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Across three seasons of action with the organization, he hasn’t been a standout at the quarterback spot. Playing 19 games in that time, he’s totaled just 3,365 passing yards and 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
On the ground, he’s added 465 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. But given the major injury concerns that have plagued him since coming over from the Houston Texans, alongside the vast age difference, the pendulum should have swung in Sanders’ favor.
However, Rich Eisen, during the latest episode of his podcast, explained that the decision could swing towards Watson for reasons that go beyond just the pure talent and production on a football field.
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“I’m, I’m just telling you. I’m telling y’all here. Is it Shedeur or Deshaun Watson? I believe at the end of the day, the Browns have put too much capital, literal, you know, sweat, equity, whatever you want to put it, in Deshaun Watson.”
As a result, he believes they’ll want to salvage something from that wreck. “And it’s going to be, ‘Let’s see what Deshaun has one last time.’ They’re not going to have him come back from his Achilles and everything that the organization put into this and didn’t get out of it.”
While he did not have direct intel, Eisen believed that line of thinking could decide the course of the quarterback battle. However, without that caveat, he made it clear that the team would go with Sanders under center.
“They’re going to do their damnedest to see if there’s anything left in Deshaun Watson for them to somehow, someway go see, ‘At least we got this.’ I’m just wondering if that’s going to tip the scales or you’re just going to go with Shedeur and see what he’s got.”
It remains to be seen what the final decision for the Browns turns out to be. This is a franchise that has struggled with a definitive answer at quarterback since what seems like forever. But given the two options at their disposal heading into 2026, it doesn’t seem like they are finding their long-term answer just yet.
