Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Getty
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
A year after calling the trade a “big swing and miss,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam now believes Deshaun Watson still has the potential to turn into a home run.
Cleveland enters 2026 with three quarterbacks under contract: Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. The Browns have called it an “open competition” for the starting gig.
Watson’s tenure in Cleveland has been rocky. In three seasons with Cleveland, Watson has completed 61.2% of his passes for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 19 starts, posting an 80.7 passer rating. Watson missed all of last year recovering from a pair of Achilles surgeries.
On Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, Haslam offered Watson something he rarely gets in Cleveland anymore: the benefit of the doubt.
“There’s a lot of quarterbacks who, it seems to be kind of the theme in the NFL who either started, did not start well and take the Super Bowl (route), right? And what a great story that is for Sam Darnold,” Haslam said, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. “Deshaun started great and the year before we signed him, he was the second best quarterback in NFL. And then the suspension and the injuries and all that piled up, can he come back from that? He certainly had the ability at one point and we’re cautiously optimistic.”
The carefully worded vote of semi-confidence adds an ownership layer to a quarterback competition that has already generated plenty of intrigue this offseason. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported last week that Watson is currently in “pole position” to start Week 1.
Browns Coach Todd Monken Intrigued by Deshaun Watson
Haslam’s statement struck a different tone than last year, when he unloaded publicly, acknowledging the Browns “gave up a lot of draft picks to get him” and now have to “dig ourselves out of that hole.”
But Haslam isn’t ready to pull the plug entirely on a player who is heading into the final year of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract. And new head coach Todd Monken has been singing a similar tune since he was hired. Speaking at the NFL combine in Indianapolis last month, Monken explained the logic of keeping Watson in the mix.
“I think that anytime that you have a player that at one time has exhibited the skillset at an elite level, you’re always going to give them the benefit of the doubt that somehow we’re going to be able to get that out of him,” Monken said.
Browns QB Competition May Take Another Turn
Browns general manager Andrew Berry acknowledged Sunday that it is “wholly realistic” the team will add another quarterback before training camp, with a preference for a younger player. But for now, the core competition remains Watson vs. Sanders.
Sanders — a fifth-round rookie — finished last season as the starter. He recorded a 3-4 record in seven starts, 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
“I think what you see is elite playmaking ability. That’s in him,” Monken said of Sanders. “You’ve seen it. We’ve seen it. You saw it in college. You saw it on tape last year. Sure, there’s a ways to go. But what rookie isn’t, I mean, what first year player doesn’t have a long way to go? So, I’m excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players.”
The competition is expected to play out through OTAs and training camp, with Monken saying he’d like clarity before the preseason.