Browns announce QB decision with plan confirmed for Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson

Deshaun Watson has landed the first significant blow of the Cleveland Browns quarterback battle.

The $230 million veteran, who missed the entire 2025 season through injury, has been locked in a training camp competition with Shedeur Sanders over the starting role.

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And days ahead of Cleveland’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bears, head coach Todd Monken has confirmed Watson will start.

Sanders, meanwhile, will take the role for the second warm-up game, against the Buffalo Bills on August 22.

Coach Monken informed both players, who have been alternating first-team reps in camp, of his decision after practice Wednesday.

He had also revealed before the session that he hoped to play whomever starts at quarterback for one half.

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We now know that will be Watson. Sanders is expected to feature in the third quarter.

“I’m super excited,” the veteran said of starting against the Bears.

“I think all the hard work that I’ve put in with the training staff, with my team, my personal team, to get to this stage has been tremendous for myself.

“So, I’m super excited for those opportunities and can’t wait for it.”

Deshaun Watson insists his ‘game has changed’ ahead of Browns return

Saturday’s game against the Bears at Soldier Field will be Watson’s first since he tore his right Achilles tendon in October 2024.

He sat out last year after undergoing a second surgery in January 2025, and was later hit with a brutal assessment from Browns owner Jimmy Haslam.

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The 30-year-old’s return marks a stunning turnaround for a player who will have worried he’d thrown his last pass in Cleveland after watching a crowded quarterback room battle for game-time, and saw three different starters, last season.

He will get the chance to prove his worth in the preseason opener, but as he comes back from two Achilles injuries, Watson — who was one of the NFL‘s top dual-threat passers during his time with the Houston Texans — insists his game has changed.

“I’m different, man,” he said this week.

“I think ever since I’ve been here early on, bringing up Houston was cool, but I’m 30 now. I had some injuries and things like that.

“So, my game has definitely changed. But the mentality in how I play and how I approach it doesn’t.”

However, while talking to reporters, Monken refused to admit that Watson can’t be the QB he once was.

“I would never put limitations on a player. I’d hate that he would do that,” Monken said on Wednesday. “Why can’t he be? Why can’t he play like that? I don’t know. I haven’t seen him yet. I’m not going to say he can’t until I see it. Right? Until we see it. Right? I’ve seen a lot of really good things over the course of the four or five months I’ve been here.

“I’m not going to put that on him. If he thinks he can’t play like that, that’s on him. I think he’s done a lot of really good things athletically, making plays. We’re going to get a chance to see, right? Because we’re not live. We’ll see. We’ll see if that comes to play when we get out there and go.”

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Sanders, the college superstar who suffered a massive slide in the 2025 NFL Draft, will now have to wait another week to suit up as Browns starter.

He held the role for the final seven games of his rookie season, and went 3-4 with seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

Sanders recorded a 18.9 QBR as a rookie, one of the lowest marks amongst nearly 700 quarterbacks with at least 200 passing attempts in the last 20 years.

He still believes he has a shot at the job, despite the setback.

“We approach practice like a game,” Sanders said Wednesday.

“So it’s the same amount of focus and experiences. So that’s why I’m excited: to feel how similar does it feel to practice, honestly.

“Because it’s a different type of intention and a mentality that we go out there every day with.”