Deshaun Watson entered this offseason as the frontrunner for the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job, and so far, that remains to be the case.
However, second-year signal-caller Shedeur Sanders has evidently closed the gap and given the Browns’ coaching staff much more to consider with training camp on the horizon later this summer.
Shedeur Sanders Has Closed the Gap to Browns’ QB1 Job
2025 marked another year of uncertainty under center for the Browns, which has essentially been the case since their conception.
They cycled through the likes of Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Sanders at quarterback last season, never finding a true, full-time option. Sanders started seven games, completing 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for another touchdown.
It was a ghastly showing for Sanders, who was selected in the fifth round of last spring’s draft. But his aspirations aren’t dead in the water yet.
In an appearance on the “Ross Tucker Podcast” on Thursday, Browns color analyst Nathan Zegura emphasized that it’s a two-man race for the starting quarterback job in Cleveland. An encouraging slate of organized team activities and minicamp practices has allowed Sanders to bridge the gap between himself and Watson.
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“Shedeur’s had a very nice camp,” Zegura said. “He has progressed so much in terms of his pre and post-snap process, his ability to get through his reads and his progressions, process information, and get the ball out quickly. He’s done a very good job with that.”
“Shedeur (Sanders) has had a VERY nice camp. He has progressed SO much in terms of his pre and post snap progression…”@NathanZegura discusses the 2nd-year Browns QB: pic.twitter.com/WGWFQwerEr
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) June 25, 2026
According to PFSN’s QB Impact Metric, Sanders posted an impact score of 56.7 last season, ranking third-worst in the league. It’s about what you’d expect from a day-three quarterback who was thrown into the fire.
Flacco was the team’s starter early in the season before he was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, paving the way for Gabriel, a third-round rookie, to take the reins. Gabriel sustained a concussion after six starts, prompting the Browns to turn to Sanders.
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In an ideal world, a project like Sanders would have the luxury of riding the bench, banking practice reps, and absorbing as much information as possible so that he’s fully prepared by the time he has to take the field. But the NFL isn’t an ideal world; when your number is called, you have to answer.
All signs point to Sanders making evident strides in a number of areas this offseason, potentially setting him up for a sophomore surge rather than a sophomore slump.
“He’s been in the building constantly, and I really think he’s made a big leap since his rookie year,” Zegura added. “This is a very real quarterback competition, and it’s a two-person quarterback competition with Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.”
Watson has played in just 19 games since joining the Browns in 2022. He’s been suspended and hindered by an onslaught of injuries. Considering the Browns traded three first-round picks to the Houston Texans for Watson’s services and the right to sign him to a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract, the trade was nothing short of a horrific catastrophe.
Watson, who turns 31 years old in September, hasn’t played in a game since the 2024 season, when he tore his right Achilles tendon. He re-ruptured the Achilles tendon the following January, forcing him to undergo a second surgery, which sidelined him for all of 2025.
