The One Big Thing Everybody’s Missing About Deshaun Watson’s Time With the Browns

As the Cleveland Browns prepare for closing arguments on the team’s much-maligned open quarterback competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, one theory making the rounds around the league points that the battle was decided long ago.

With more and more signs pointing towards Watson being ultimately selected over Sanders to guide head coach Todd Monken’s offense for the foreseeable future, there’s one big thing that nobody really talked about much during the past few months.

While Watson is set to begin his fifth season in Cleveland holding a starting record of just 9-10 for the Browns, and even as club ownership seemed ready to move on from one of the NFL’s worst trades in league history a short while ago, there's one critical detail regarding his tenure in Berea we didn't talk about enough: no matter how he played in the past, he was never been benched due to performance.

In other words, anytime Watson has been healthy and not under league suspension, he’s been the starter for the Browns.

So, how has Deshaun Watson played for the Browns?

One quick look back at 2024 tells us everything we need to know about the latitude Watson has been afforded in Cleveland. Before getting hurt in a Week 7 game against Cincinnati, Watson held a season record of 1-5 which ranked dead last in the league in QBR, and had been sacked a staggering 31 times. According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, Cleveland’s offense up to that point had the highest punt rate in the league, as well as the least number of red zone trips. And to top it off, Watson hadn't reached the 200-yard passing mark in a single contest, while tossing just five touchdowns to three picks and fumbling five times.

Nonetheless, then-head coach Kevin Stefanski remained steadfast that the team wasn’t benching Watson. Back-to-back Achilles’ tears put an end to his season and kept him sidelined for all of 2025, too.

The 2023 season remains Watson’s best performance to date in Cleveland, thanks in large part to a 5-1 record before a right shoulder fracture washed away that campaign in Week 9. He had already missed some time earlier due to a right rotator cuff tear. Yet, one of those wins was a 1-of-5 attempt 5-yard effort where he was duly subbed because of injury against the Colts that ended in a 39-38 shootout victory. His stats weren’t that impressive either, completing 61.4 percent of his throws with seven scores and four interceptions along with five fumbles. He held a truly mediocre 43.7 QBR at the time of his injury.

Watson started off the 2022 season with an 11 game suspension, before compiling a 3-3 starting record in his first games for the franchise. At the time, he was completing just 58.2 percent of his passes and tossed seven touchdowns to five interceptions, with one fumble. During this time, he managed to pass for at least 170 yards only twice, and had a 40.4 QBR mark. And that came off a lost year after Houston deactivated him due to his mounting legal issues. All in all, a far cry from the three consecutive Pro Bowl campaigns of 2018-2020.

Money talks

No one likes admitting to mistakes, especially a $230 million five-year one that also left the franchise without six draft picks, including three ones. Chances are that just like in 2024, ownership and front office are still expecting some kind of return on that investment. And even if it wasn’t explicitly the case, forking over $46 million to Watson for the season just for him to watch Sanders operate the offense reflects very poorly on the club’s decision-makers.

So, a not-so-open competition where Sanders didn’t truly separate himself from Watson sounds like a better plan, I guess, even if Watson did nothing to separate himself from Sanders either, as so many league observers have noted.

Is the race over?

Sure seems like it. Sanders will likely not get the chance to start any preseason games with the starters, according to Monken’s recent statements, and the coach had already taken some first-string reps away from the second year player in favor of Watson.

Then, there’s that quiet confidence that $230 million can buy. When asked today if he was concerned about possibly being booed by Browns’ fans during the team’s Week 2 home preseason game, Watson calmly responded “I don’t care, I don’t care.”

Is #Browns Deshaun Watson prepared for whatever fan reax he gets Saturday at Huntington Bank Field vs. the #Bills: pic.twitter.com/7SQwdPfeGg
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 19, 2026

Curiously, Watson also said he’s “not really focused on the competition. I think the front office and coach Monken is gonna make that decision based on how they’re gonna make that decision.”

If it were a performance-based competition only, why would the front office have a say?

Add us as a preferred source on Google