It felt like the book was closing on Deshaun Watson being an active contributor for the Cleveland Browns. A disastrous showing in the second week of preseason, coupled with his war against the team’s own fans, felt like a death sentence to his chances of being QB1.
But the organization went forward with the decision anyway, instead announcing Watson as the starter and Shedeur Sanders as the backup to start the season. One NFL analyst was left stunned and explained the only possible reason behind their choice.
Analyst Argues Browns Are Starting Deshaun Watson Over Shedeur Sanders for 1 Key Reason
Through four seasons with the team, Watson had played in just 19 games. In those outings, he’s been far from the stud and three-time Pro Bowler he was earlier in his career.
But with Sanders not serving as a huge upgrade, new head coach Todd Monken was willing to let the two battle it out before deciding his starter heading into Week 1. Watson seemed ahead in that race, but then Sanders made things interesting during the team’s Week 2 preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
A disastrous outing for Watson saw him throw for just 36 yards and an interception, despite playing against backups in the second half. Somehow, though, his postgame performance was even worse.
Browns fans booed Watson at the top of their lungs, and he couldn’t hold back his frustration after the game. He went after the team’s fans in the press conference, calling them “disrespectful” and arguing that their boos were “personal” rather than about his performance. He also admitted that “it’s a mental battle every day” and that he views this season as playing “17 away games” given their lack of support.
As a result, it seemed very unlikely that the Browns would move forward with him as the starter and risk alienating the fan base.
However, that’s exactly what they did, and PFN’s NFL analyst Ian Cummings was shocked. Cummings could only arrive at one possible conclusion for their decision.
“In my opinion, it’s a complete tone-deaf move on his part, but also by the Browns to name him the starter in spite of that. There’s only one reason to keep Deshaun Watson as a starter, and that’s the $230 million guaranteed money price tag,” Cummings said.
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Releasing him is possible but punishing: his 2026 cap charge of $40.9 million stays on the books either way, and roughly $86.2 million in dead money would accelerate onto Cleveland’s 2027 cap.
“The fact of the matter is, simply put, you get nothing from starting Deshaun Watson,” Cummings added. “[In 2024], he was the worst QB in the NFL on the All 22 and by the PFN QB Impact [metric], scoring a 59.9 grade that ranked last in the league, and was 11th-worst all time dating back to 2000.”
As a result, the decision to start Watson is befuddling on a number of levels.
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But while Watson has been named the starter, the general consensus is that the Browns are going to wait until next year’s draft to potentially find their long-term answer at quarterback. As a result, punting on this season, even with Watson under center, doesn’t seem like a bad idea for the franchise.
However, Cummings argued that “at least with Shedeur Sanders, you have some pre-existing upside. Yes, he’s been up and down for sure, but he’s a young QB on a rookie contract who, at the very least, you can mould into a long-term backup or trade for Day-3 [draft] capital next year.”
That possibility does not exist with Watson. The Browns have made their decision, and it is one that the fan base will have to live with. But if the preseason was any indication, the team is going to see a chorus of boos rain down on them whenever Watson is on the field.
Unless they make a quick change to Sanders, expect plenty of frustration from Browns fans.
