Training camp hasn’t even started, and the Cleveland Browns are already catching heat from their own backyard. Plenty of people close to this team are saying that handing the job back to Deshaun Watson is a gamble Cleveland might regret.

It started on Nightcap, where longtime receiver Chad Ochocinco made his stance clear. He believes Watson is the Browns’ starting quarterback, full stop, and figures he’ll get about six weeks to prove it before anyone seriously brings up a switch to Sanders. For a moment, that take seemed to capture the mood as June wound down, with Watson looking like he had real momentum. But not everyone was buying it.

“I think if Deshaun Watson starts the first six games, it’ll be the disaster that it’s always been,” Zac Jackson said on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. “They’ll be one and five at best. There’s just no upside to this team playing Deshaun Watson. This team is rebuilding, this team is pointed towards the future. The only thing that makes even a little bit of sense to me is to play Shedeur Sanders. Let him learn, let him develop. Deshaun Watson, you’ve been driving down the wrong road for five years. You’ve got to turn around at some point.”

That kind of criticism isn’t coming out of nowhere, but it’s also not the full picture. For Watson, this is personal. He said at the start of the month that it’s “very important” for him to get another shot at starting, especially after what his body has been through. He hasn’t played since October 2024, sidelined by an Achilles injury, which required two surgeries on the same leg. He first underwent Achilles surgery in October, then went back under the knife in January 2025, a setback that wiped out his entire 2025 season.

Even before the injury, his numbers weren’t turning heads. He went 1-6 as a starter, threw for just over 1,100 yards, and threw five touchdowns. So the disaster talk doesn’t come out of nowhere.

Browns insider Daryl Ruiter said much the same thing recently.

“Not the least bit impressed with Deshaun [Wednesday],” Ruiter said, “and I’ve not really been all that impressed with him this offseason other than he is healthy.”

However, Watson’s career numbers are still solid. In his overall NFL career, he racked up 17,904 passing yards, 123 touchdowns, and 2,142 rushing yards. That’s likely why he’s seen as the slight frontrunner coming off injury.

So where does that leave Cleveland? Still figuring it out. Head coach Todd Monken made clear during mandatory minicamp that nothing is settled, and both Sanders and Watson have earned the right to keep competing into camp. On the field, the two have been given first-team reps all offseason. During the three-day minicamp, Sanders started day one, Watson took day two, and they split day three.

What makes things even messier is the speculation swirling around a possible Sanders trade. ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo addressed it head-on.

“There are talks, ongoing calls about the availability of Shedeur Sanders,” Rizzo said. “The Browns, for whatever reason, don’t think he’s the guy.”

Notably, it’s hard to picture Cleveland walking into camp with four quarterbacks in the mix, Dillon Gabriel, Taylen Green, Shedeur Sanders, and Deshaun Watson, all fighting for reps. However, there is no confirmation regarding the trade speculation, and Sanders himself isn’t fading into the background while all this plays out. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler noted Sanders has “bridged the gap at least somewhat,” which says a lot about how things have shifted lately.

Nobody knows yet who walks away with the job. The competition rolls into training camp, and Cleveland still has plenty left to decide. Sanders has done well to win over many who were not backing him in the QB race, and even if he doesn’t start Week 1, there is a growing belief that Sanders could, like last season, clinch the spot if things don’t go to plan.