Have the Cleveland Browns had a plan all along for who would be the starting quarterback? Between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, there’s been an intense battle going on throughout camp and into the preseason.
However, an ex-NFL quarterback believes Cleveland already had its mind made up before the competition hit full stride.
But rather than announcing the starter, the Browns have continued to let the media swirl on who is ahead or has the edge each day.
Robert Griffin III Calls Out Browns over Shedeur Sanders-Deshaun Watson QB Battle Handling
Robert Griffin III put it simply. He believes the Browns have planned to start Watson Week 1 all along, and the sole reason is that he’s being paid $230 million.
“The reason I think that (Shedeur Sanders) is not starting is because he doesn’t have a $230 million contract. Deshaun Watson does,” Griffin said. “I don’t think the Cleveland Browns ever had any intention of starting Shedeur Sanders.”
I’m convinced the Cleveland Browns never had any intention to start Shedeur Sanders.
Shedeur starting the 2nd preseason game without the rest of the Browns starters makes zero sense.
It’s impossible to get a comparable evaluation in a QB competition if Shedeur doesn’t get to… pic.twitter.com/oQcmmmCioa
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) August 19, 2026
The former quarterback pointed to the possibility that Sanders could start Week 2 of the preseason, a scenario that, in his view, showed where the Browns’ priorities lie, even though the potential lineup was tied to a joint-practice agreement between the two teams rather than a decision made about Sanders alone.
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“Why would the coach come out and say, ‘I’m going to start during the second game because I think it’s fair to (Sanders), even though we’re not going to start all of our starters in the second game.’ If you actually watch the game with Deshaun Watson against the Chicago Bears in the first preseason game, and you didn’t just box score watch. He did not play great,” Griffin said.
“I think they said he averaged 4.4 yards of air yards per completion,” Griffin continued. “The fumble looked like a guy that hadn’t been playing consistent football in six years… Now Shedeur goes out and throws an interception. It was a bad interception. He said he thought he made the right decision. I can see why he thought that. I thought he should have thrown the check down. But he air-mailed the throw, and he missed it. And you own up to that, and you move on.”
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In his post on X, Griffin added, “The Browns could have saved the locker room and the fans from a lot of unnecessary noise from the media by just declaring they planned to start Deshaun Watson no matter what.”
The Browns are yet to announce a Week 1 starting quarterback for the 2026 season, but all signs point to Watson leading the charge.
The veteran quarterback has a hefty contract, and when he was at his best, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. However, he hasn’t been at that level for quite some time. According to PFN’s QB Impact Metric, in 2024, which was the last season he played, Watson ranked as the worst quarterback in the league with an impact score of 59.9.
But his contract may also be one of the worst in Browns history, so it’s not crazy to think Cleveland would want to try to at least get some good football out of the quarterback.
Then again, the Browns have been rebuilding for years, and Shedeur is the young guy who could be the future. So, is it really worth delaying his opportunity to get as many reps as possible to figure out if he can be the guy?
