Sources: Browns tab Deshaun Watson, not Shedeur Sanders, as QB1

BEREA, Ohio — Deshaun Watson will open the season as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Watson, 30, emerged as the starter in a competition with second-year player Shedeur Sanders that began in the offseason workout program and stretched into the first two preseason games.

The Browns face the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road in Week 1.

The decision comes despite Watson’s struggles in the second preseason game Saturday, during which he completed 5 of 12 passes for 35 yards and one interception in four second-half drives. Watson was also met with boos in his first home game since tearing his Achilles, a reaction that he called “disrespectful.” Sanders started Saturday’s game after Watson started the Browns’ preseason opener.

The seats at Huntington Bank Field were half full, but the boos were pronounced when Watson took the field at the beginning of the second half and as he struggled.

“I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance,” Watson said. “It’s a little bit [more] personal than that. So I think it’s a disrespectful thing. So yeah, I mean, I’m going to keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that. And yeah, just move on.”

Browns coach Todd Monken said Sunday that Watson’s comments would not factor into his decision.

“He emptied his heart a little bit, and I don’t think that says who he is,” Monken said Sunday. “I see the competitor in him. I see the every-day work he puts in, and he wants to be back. He wants to get back to where he was as best he can, and that’s hard. And again, I think the moment just got him after the game, and it can get all of us.”

The Browns’ first two games of the 2026 season are on the road — at Jacksonville and then at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — before returning home to face the Carolina Panthers in Week 3.

Watson, a nine-year veteran, did not play in the 2025 season after undergoing two surgeries to address a torn right Achilles tendon. Suspension and injuries have limited Watson to just 19 games since the Browns traded three first-round picks to the Houston Texans and gave Watson a $230 million contract in March 2022. A three-time Pro Bowler during his time in Houston, Watson’s 33.1 Total QBR since making his debut in Cleveland would rank last among quarterbacks if he had enough starts to qualify.

Watson split first-team reps with Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round pick, through offseason workouts and training camp. Watson started Cleveland’s preseason opener on the road against the Chicago Bears, his first game since tearing his Achilles in October 2024. In the first half of that game, Watson completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards, and he lost a fumble.

Watson has a 9-10 record as the Browns’ starting quarterback, and his last two seasons as the starter have ended due to injury. In the 2023 season, Watson underwent season-ending surgery following a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right throwing shoulder. This injury forced Watson to miss the final nine games of the 2023 season, including the team’s AFC wild-card loss to the Texans.

The Browns also have second-year quarterback Dillon Gabriel and sixth-round pick Tayleen Green on the roster.