230 million dollars and a losing record
Todd Monken has not changed course. The Browns’ new head coach will start Deshaun Watson in Week 1 of the regular season, according to multiple US outlets. The team was told on Monday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
One stat sums up the last four years. Watson is 9-10 as a starter in Cleveland. He has never played more than seven games in a season since arriving. The Browns still went out and got him from the Texans just before the 2022 season, handing him a five-year, 230 million dollar deal.
First the suspension, then the injuries. Watson did not play at all last season while dealing with two surgeries on his right Achilles tendon. He tore it in October 2024, then broke down again during rehab, forcing surgeons back in for a second procedure.
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Shedeur Sanders sent back to the bench
Training camp had looked like a straight fight for the job. Watson and Shedeur Sanders split reps with the first-team offense in practice and in the preseason.
Sanders, taken in the fifth round of the 2025 draft, had been thrown in at the deep end as a rookie. Cleveland opened the season with Joe Flacco before shipping him to the Bengals, then turned to Dillon Gabriel. Sanders took over in November. His record over eight games has been rough, with seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
Cleveland has been hunting for stability at quarterback for years. Monken has gone with experience over hope.
A crowd that has had enough
On Saturday, Watson was loudly booed by his own fans. Coming on in the second half against Buffalo, he completed five of 12 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception.
“It’s a little more personal than that. I think it’s disrespectful,” he said after the game. “I’m going to keep what I feel to myself and my family, and move on.”
Monken backed his quarterback. “I see the competitor in him. I see the daily work he puts in, and he wants to come back,” said the former Ravens offensive coordinator, now a head coach for the first time after Kevin Stefanski’s departure. “He wants to get back to his best, and that’s hard. The moment got to him after the game, and that can happen to anyone.”
The schedule will not make life any easier. The Browns open with two road games, at Jacksonville on September 13 and then at Tampa Bay. Their first home game does not come until September 27, against Carolina. Watson turns 31 the day after the opener.
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