Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson enters the 2026 NFL season as one of the more precarious starters in the league, and Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay feels he could lose his job pretty quickly.
In a piece where Kay ranked the quarterbacks most likely to get supplanted under center this season, he had Watson placed No. 2 on the list.
Shedeur Sanders is hot on Watson’s tail in training camp, especially considering that Sanders started much of last year while Watson was sidelined recovering from a torn Achilles. But Sanders didn’t show enough to guarantee himself the starting job for 2026.
New head coach Todd Monken will have quite a decision to make this summer.
Sanders arrived as a fifth-round pick and somehow managed to spark enough life into a struggling offense to earn a Pro Bowl nod. Yet the numbers tell a more modest story.
In eight games he completed just 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns while winning only three of his seven starts. The performance left little doubt that he was still adjusting to the speed and complexity of the professional game.
Watson, by contrast, brings a far more accomplished résumé even if recent results have been uneven. The Browns still owe him a substantial portion of the guaranteed money on the final year of his five-year, $250 million contract, and that financial reality cannot be ignored.
After missing the entire 2025 season with injury, Watson returns with the pedigree of a three-time Pro Bowl selection who once ranked among the league’s most dynamic passers during his years in Houston. His record in Cleveland stands at 9-10 with 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns across those earlier starts, numbers that fall short of the lofty expectations that accompanied his arrival.
Kay notes that Watson’s superior talent and remaining upside will probably earn him the first opportunity to run Monken’s offense. The veteran still possesses the arm strength, mobility, and experience that could elevate the unit if he stays healthy and sharp.
At the same time, the margin for error appears razor thin. Any lingering injury concerns or early-season struggles would almost certainly reopen the door for Sanders, who has already shown he can generate enough positive plays to keep a coaching staff interested.
The situation captures the uneasy balance the Browns have lived with for several years. Watson’s contract keeps him in the conversation by default, while Sanders represents a younger, cheaper alternative who has already tasted starting experience.
Monken’s decision will set the tone for Cleveland’s season, and the outcome will likely determine whether Watson can reclaim a prominent role or whether the Browns finally move on from one of the more expensive and complicated quarterback experiments in recent league history.
