The Cleveland Browns are moving towards another offseason quarterback controversy, and one of the franchise’s most iconic voices has heard enough. Deshaun Watson is healthy. Dillon Gabriel is in the mix. But according to Browns legend Hanford Dixon, the front office needs to end the charade and hand the keys directly to Shedeur Sanders.
Browns Legend Hanford Dixon Demands Shedeur Sanders Start at QB
On a recent appearance on “The Top Dawgs Show,” Dixon evaluated the upcoming 2026 quarterback battle and made it abundantly clear that Watson’s era in Cleveland should be over.
Watson spent most of 2025 recovering from multiple right Achilles surgeries, watching from the sideline as Cleveland’s rotating cast of quarterbacks struggled to command the offense.
For Dixon, the fully guaranteed $230 million contract Cleveland handed Watson in 2022 is a sunk cost that shouldn’t dictate the depth chart.
“Jimmy’s lost a lot of money with Deshaun Watson, right? Deshaun hasn’t done a damn thing for this football team,” Dixon said. “Let’s just face it, gotta tell Shedeur that he is the starting quarterback now… Right now it’s got to be Shedeur’s job to lose.”
The frustration stems from a 2025 campaign defined by chaos under center. The Browns brought in Gabriel and Sanders via the draft, only to give Gabriel the initial backup snaps. That decision forced Sanders to wait his turn, taking mental reps behind the scenes before being thrust into the fire midseason.
“I would hate to see Shedeur have to go through what he went through last year,” Dixon continued. “You had Dillon Gabriel, I mean, for instance, ahead of him taking the reps that this guy should have been taking in order to get ready. I mean I would hate to see him have to go to something like that all over again. Like I said, I would like to see him named as the starting quarterback.”
Sanders’ Turbulent Rookie Campaign in Cleveland
Sanders’ 2025 rookie season was a rollercoaster ride. After sliding all the way to the fifth round and being selected 144th overall, the Colorado product started his professional career, taking zero first-team practice reps in training camp. He finally made his NFL debut in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens after Gabriel suffered a concussion.
The debut was brutal. The Ravens defense pressured him relentlessly, and he finished the game with just 47 passing yards and an interception.
Overall, his season-long metrics were grim. He appeared in 8 games, throwing for 1,400 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. In his debut NFL campaign, Sanders ranked 46th overall in PFSN’s NFL QB Impact Metrics with a 56.9 score and an F grade.
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Yet, Sanders also showed flashes of exactly what Dixon is demanding to see more of. In early December, he delivered a historic performance, throwing for 364 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing for a score.
He joined Joe Burrow as just the second rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era to record at least 350 passing yards, 3 touchdown passes, and a rushing score in a single game. Sanders has the raw talent; he survived the rookie turbulence, and the team needs to find out exactly what they have in him before looking elsewhere.
