Browns Name Starting Quarterback For Bengals to Prepare For Late in 2026 Season

The Cleveland Browns have landed on a quarterback in their lowly battle at the position this summer. Cincinnati plays its division rival twice in the back half of the season and is slated to face Deshaun Watson over Shedeur Sanders as of this writing. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the ne

Watson missed all of 2025 with a torn Achilles and has been one of the worst passers in the league since signing his mega deal with the Browns in 2022.

That poor play and huge salary, mixed with multiple sexual harassment lawsuit settlements, have turned Watson into arguably the most despised player in the NFL.

Plenty of Browns fans are on that side, as evidenced by the preseason crowd booing him during his appearance this past weekend. He was horrendous in the team's 31-7 preseason loss to Buffalo, going 5-of-12 passing for 36 yards and one interception. Alas, the Browns had few better options; Sanders didn't separate himself this summer and was arguably the worst QB to touch an NFL field last season (18.9 ESPN QBR in 2025, nearly 20 points worse than Cam Ward last season, who ranked last among qualified passers).

"The whole world knows it has nothing to do with the performance," Watson said about the boos after the game. "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 my family and me internally on how I feel about that. And yeah, just move on.

"Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles. And that same fanbase, they cheered when I got hurt," Watson later said. "So what does that have to do with anything about performance? When a person gets hurt, especially for your own city, and they cheer?"

This should be music to Bengals fans' ears; he has two touchdowns and two interceptions against Cincinnati in three Browns outings and has been sacked seven times. Cleveland is 1-2 in those games.

All in all, Watson has a 33.1 Total QBR in Cleveland that would rank last if he had enough starts to qualify.

Cincinnati plays them on Dec. 6 and in the season finale.

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