Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns
Getty
Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns
Frustrating though it may be, the Cleveland Browns appear to have made their choice on an approach at quarterback for the 2026 season. They will bring back Deshaun Watson, who is owed too much money to cut loose, after two Achilles tendon surgeries and let him compete with Shedeur Sanders, who started the final seven games of last year as a rookie and went 3-4 in that role. Dillon Gabriel will hang onto a spot going into training camp, and there’s a possibility the Browns add a fourth young quarterback to the mix, either in the draft or as a free agent after the draft.
The hope for the Browns is that they can upgrade the cast of characters around the starter in 2026, with the offensive line already having been rebuilt and new weapons–one would hope–coming in the draft in a little more than three weeks. That way, a truer assessment of what the Browns have at QB can be made.
It was difficult to judge Sanders last year (or Gabriel, for that matter) because there was the natural chicken-or-egg conundrum–did the Browns QBs struggle because they lack the chops to do the job, or did they struggle because everyone else around them was terrible?
Jimmy Haslam: Shedeur Sanders ‘Got an Education’
On Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam met with reporters and talked about Sanders’ experience last year. Haslam made headlines last year, when he called the Watson trade a “swing-and-miss,” and he made headlines again for retracting that statement on Monday.
But he had some hope on Sanders, and that’s significant.
“I was in Cleveland two or three weeks ago, and was working out early and he was coming in,” Haslam said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
“He’s been in Cleveland most of the winter, and I think that says a lot for his dedication to wanting to be a NFL quarterback and understanding what it takes. His body looks better. He’s been working hard. It’s hard for a lot of college kids to understand what it takes to play in the NFL and particularly quarterback. Shedeur got an education in that, and my instincts are he’ll come back ready to play.”
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is still looking for his next head coach.
GettyBrowns owner Jimmy Haslam.
Browns Leaning Toward Deshaun Watson?
While the team has brought in three new offensive linemen, it’s still hard to see where the Browns will improve significantly as things stand. NFL Network’s Mike Garofalo reported on Sunday that Watson will go into the offseason program in “pole position” to win job, a stunning reality if true–Watson has not played since October 2024, and was 1-6 with a career-worst 79.0 quarterback rating when he first went out with the torn Achilles.
Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders, for all his struggles in handling the blitz and seeing the field in 2025, at least was able to rally the team to some wins, and it would seem that momentum would be enough to get him into “pole position.”
Either way, the Browns have given no indication which way they’ll turn at quarterback, and who will open workouts with the first-team offense. Head coach Todd Monken will speak with the media on Tuesday morning and will surely address the issue.