The fallout from the Cleveland Browns overlooking Shedeur Sanders in favor of Deshaun Watson in the team’s QB1 battle has continued unabated.
Browns coach Todd Monken announced the decision on Monday after the two quarterbacks had shared first-team reps throughout training camp and the first two preseason games.
Bears CB Backs Shedeur Sanders Over Deshaun Watson in Browns QB1 Fight
During an appearance on Monday’s segment of the “Nightcap” podcast, Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson was also puzzled by Sanders being overlooked in favor of Watson.
“I can’t give you a tale, but I can say that I like Shedeur though,” Johnson said. “I think if it’s close, you always go young. But I think he’s put enough out there on tape; he should have gotten the nod. But I’m not in their camp; I didn’t see what they saw. But at the end of the day, I think he’ll end up taking it over at some point.”
Shannon sharpe asking Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is he surprised that deshuan Watson got the stating quarterback postion over shedeur sanders since yall played them in pre season pic.twitter.com/SHjYtolxcZ
— NBA Hoops (@Thechat101) August 25, 2026
Watson has not played for over a year after re-rupturing his Achilles tendon in 2025. The divisive quarterback was booed by his own fans during the Browns’ second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, and he blasted them during his postgame news conference.
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The veteran quarterback signed a lucrative, fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million contract with the Browns after being traded from the Houston Texans in 2022.
Several analysts have suggested that Watson only won the QB1 job because of his mammoth contract.
During Monday’s segment of the “Speakeasy” podcast, former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho claimed that the Browns’ QB1 race was orchestrated to keep Sanders fans happy.
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“It was never a competition,” Acho said. “The Deshaun Watson-Shedeur Sanders competition was simply a facade. No. 1, to keep Shedeur Sanders’ fans from becoming irate and suggesting that Deshaun Watson should not be named a starter without legitimate competition. The whole world saw how bad Shedeur Sanders’ fans got.
“How upset they got after Dillon Gabriel was given all the first-team reps. There was never a competition. This whole thing was simply a charade. It was a charade so the Shedeur Sanders fans would not be upset. Deshaun Watson has not severely outplayed Shedeur in practice… Was it ever actually a legitimate competition? No.”
After taking over from Dillon Gabriel as the Browns’ QB1 last year, Sanders led the team to a 3-4 record as a starter. He tallied 1,400 passing yards on 56.6% completion, 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, earning the second-lowest PFN QB Impact score of 63.0.
