Browns Already Made QB Decision in ‘Worst-Kept Secret’: Insider

Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns Getty

Maybe this entire ordeal for the Cleveland Browns has been a charade. The team has been waffling between its two top options for the quarterback spot all through the offseason, with Deshaun Watson returning from a torn Achilles tendon that has had two surgeries on it since October of 2024, the last time Watson played in an NFL game, and Shedeur Sanders, hoping to hold onto the job he had at the end of last season.

We’ve had a full spring and, now, into the summer, of reports that have gone back and forth suggesting one or the other is in the lead to take hold of the job. Even as the Browns opened training camp this week in Berea, it has appeared that Watson and Sanders have alternated as perceived leaders, depending on whom you listen to.

Heck, even Dillon Gabriel seems to have inserted himself into the mix. But according to one insider, this competition has never really been a competition at all.

‘Deshaun Watson Is Going to Be the Starter’

That insider is Mike Garafolo, who was the first to report that the Browns want Watson to be the starter–back in February. Now, more than five months, weeks of OTAs and minicamp, and days into training camp, Garafolo is sticking by his guns.

He was asked on ESPN who will the Browns quarterback be.

He did not hesitate : “Deshaun Watson. I have been on this since February, at the scouting combine I had people telling me Deshaun Watson is going to be the starter for the Browns. Like, that’s the worst-kept secret in the NFL back in February. Then, all the sudden you see the way it started to play out in the spring, and the answers you got from the coaching staff and others there.

“It’s going to be Watson because owner Jimmy Haslam had said before that they, ‘Took a swing and a miss with Deshaun Watson,’ made it seem like it was over. Now, all the sudden, Watson is coming back here–he’s still got to fend off Shedeur, he still has to practice well and play well in the preseason. But my educated guess is it is going to be Deshaun Watson.”

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Browns Wanted Deshaun Watson All Along?

There has been a theory running for the Browns that Haslam and GM Andrew Berry–the two principals remaining with the organization who were responsible for the disastrous acquisition of Watson in 2022–want Watson to get one last crack at the job to prove that the deal was not as bad as it looked.

Watson has been hounded by injuries, and has played only 19 games since arriving in Cleveland, though it should be pointed out that he was not exactly a top QB in the league when he did play. Watson is 9-10 with an 80.7 quarterback rating in his Browns career.

Browns Still Installing Offense

As things stand, if there were not predetermined factors in the Deshaun Watson vs. Shedeur Sanders race, it would likely be dead even between the two. The Browns are still installing a new offense, and it is only natural that a defense as talented as that of Cleveland would be making the quarterbacks look bad.

That was a point Monken made this week.

He said: “I think it’s probably been like anything when you’re installing, you’re going against a really good defense. I’m not sure stacking days has come up. I think what we’re trying to do is stack as many good plays as we can within what we’re asking them to do on a given day. I’d much prefer stacking really good days, but as the head coach, if the offense is stacking really good days, it probably means the defense wasn’t stacking a very good day.”

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