The Cleveland Browns are rolling into the regular season with a wild card: four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. Yeah, you read that right, *four* QBs, and it feels like even the team isn’t sure how to feel about Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, or rookie Taylen Green. This is pretty rare in the league these days, and honestly, it looks less like a vote of confidence and more like a massive shrug emoji from the organization.
Watson’s Disaster Deal Is Still Kicking, But Barely
Deshaun Watson might have won the Week 1 starting job over Sanders, with new head coach Todd Monken making the call early, but let’s be real: Cleveland fans are fed up. Watson getting booed during the preseason was an ugly scene, and his talking out then walking back sure didn’t help. We’re talking about one of the worst returns on investment in modern NFL history, and fans are justifiably steaming about being shackled to him. His contract is punitive, runs out after this season, and the chances of him returning next year are “impossibly low, almost nil.” That he’s starting is less about him being great and more about an “indictment of the rest of the QB depth chart.” The Browns are just biding their time, it seems, before a potentially bonanza 2027 QB Draft class.
The QB Room Is Full of Question Marks
It’s not just Watson; the whole QB room is a mess of uncertainty. Shedeur Sanders outplayed Watson in the second preseason game, which sparked some false hope among the fanbase. His seven starts last season were mostly “more bad than good,” even though the team “appeared to play a bit better” with him than other QBs. Despite his affordable contract,we’re talking $1.1 million to $1.3 million cap hits for the next three seasons,and being just 24 with “moldable talent,” Sanders couldn’t win the starting job. He’s reportedly the first option to replace Watson midseason, but even that’s fuzzy now after Dillon Gabriel, a 2025 third-round pick, had a stronger performance in the third preseason game than either Watson or Sanders did in their appearances. Rookie Taylen Green also flashed enough that the Browns apparently feared losing him on waivers. The big question is whether Sanders’ potential upside outweighs the fact that “to date, he hasn’t” mastered the finer points of quarterbacking.
So, Watson is starting the opener on the road against the Jaguars, then the Buccaneers in Week 2. If he bombs, all eyes are on that Week 3 home opener against the Panthers. Monken will have to decide if he can endure more boos every time the offense steps on the field. This isn’t just about Week 1; it’s about a team that has four QBs on the roster and still doesn’t have a clear answer for their future.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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