The Cleveland Browns chose Deshaun Watson as their QB1, and now they have to suffer the consequences. After a brutal preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, which was made all the worse by his postgame press conference in which he attacked the fan base, the organization still made that choice.
As a result, the public outcry has been intense. The three-time Pro Bowler has tried to walk back some of his sentiments, but he continues to believe that there is a vendetta against him. However, one insider believes the reaction against him is mainly because of his QB1 competition, Shedeur Sanders.
Deshaun Watson Just Isn’t Shedeur Sanders
Despite being a fifth-round pick, Sanders has a fandom unlike almost any other. An underwhelming rookie season, where he finished second-to-last on PFN’s Quarterback Impact Metric, still couldn’t stop people from believing in him.
Then, for Cleveland to make Watson the starter right after he publicly attacked the fan base hasn’t gone over well with those same fans. But Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot, during an appearance on “92.3 The Fan,” made it clear that it wasn’t anything personal against Watson.
“I do think he did plenty of harm with that press conference, and now he has got to do whatever he possibly can to try to change the narrative and flip the script,” Cabot said about the direction Watson was trying to take.
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But she also sees it as a performance problem: “Not everybody hated him when he came out of the locker room in Baltimore in 2023, went 14/14, and beat the Ravens on the road. People didn’t hate him then.”
“I do think he did plenty of harm with that press conference. It’s not just personal against Deshaun…it’s very much a ‘we love Shedeur’ phenomenon that’s going on here. It would be the same thing for Dillon (Gabriel).”
➡️ @MaryKayCabot w/ @KenCarman and @SportsBoyTony on the… pic.twitter.com/8YNecM9SEg — 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) August 27, 2026
However, she also wasn’t willing to summarily dismiss other factors also at play here. But for the veteran Browns reporter, arguably the biggest variable to inform those reactions against Watson was the presence of Sanders.
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“Dillon Gabriel got booed last year at the stadium because he wasn’t Shedeur Sanders,” Cabot added. “It’s not just personal against Deshaun. It’s very much a ‘We love Shedeur’ phenomenon that’s going on here. It would be the same thing for Dillon. If Dillon were to start in the Carolina game, he’s gonna get booed.”
It remains to be seen whether Watson can have a bounce-back season and win back the fans. But until he does that, it is hard to imagine him receiving a warm welcome at the Cleveland home stadium.
