Browns pick Deshaun Watson as their starting QB despite home crowd booing and his ’17 away games’ comments
It’s going to be Deshaun Watson as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns to open the NFL regular season, which means one thing: Get your popcorn ready because this should be entertaining.
No, not entertaining in the typical star-player-doing-amazing-things kind of way.
Entertaining in the cinema drama kind of way because what we have here is the NFL equivalent of a villain being given the opportunity to redeem himself and then deciding – by his actions – if he continues to be reviled based on what happens next.
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Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders will each get preseason starts as the Browns try to settle one of the NFL’s most intriguing quarterback battles. (Diamond Images/Getty Images)
What happened Sunday evening is Browns coach Todd Monken and general manager Andrew Berry picked Watson to be their starter over Shedeur Sanders, to culminate a competition that spanned the entire offseason and into the first two preseason games.
That decision was announced to the players on Monday morning.
And now we see the next chapter of what has been the tremendously disappointing story of Watson in Cleveland. It’s a story that has compounded on-field failure, Personal Conduct Policy suspension, and one injury after another the last three years.
It’s a story that seemed to have a climax on Saturday when Watson was booed lustily by Browns fans – at home at Huntington Bank Field – from the moment he entered the game in the second half pretty much until the game was over.
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Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns listens to questions during a press conference prior to a joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on August 18, 2022 in Berea, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
And then Watson conducted a viral press conference in which he called what Browns fans did “personal,” and “disrespectful,” making it seem possible that his time with the team was about to end because how does an NFL team keep a QB that gets booed at home?
Watson, indeed said, he would be playing “17 away games” if he won the starting job.
But these are the Browns, folks.
They do Browns things.
A source confirmed to OutKick the Browns did not take Watson’s words into account when deciding on him as the starter.
They obviously also didn’t take the booing into account.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders throws a pass to tight end Carsen Ryan during the first half against the Buffalo Bills at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 22, 2026. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
They picked Watson over Sanders because, well, Watson is more experienced. He’s more ready to face what NFL defenses will show the Browns once the season begins. A source said he was also slightly better than Sanders throughout the competition, the Saturday preseason meltdown notwithstanding.
Sanders, who had a higher completion percentage than Watson but threw one more interception, had better stay ready.
That was the coaching staff’s message to the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
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Watson, you see, has been named the starter for the regular-season opener. But not for the season.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson passes against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The Browns have made no guarantees to him if he plays poorly. If that happens, the team reserves the right to pivot to Sanders.
Watson has thrown 19 TD passes in his 19 games with the team, which is nowhere near what the Browns expected when they traded away six draft picks, including three first-rounders, to the Houston Texans, then signed him to a $230 million contract.
Watson has a chance to finally reward that investment to start the 2026 season. It’s a small window of opportunity, but it beats the alternative for him, which was getting cut outright.
So we shall see what happens next starting with the Browns’ regular-season opener, a road game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.
Get your popcorn.
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