On Monday morning, new Cleveland Browns Head Coach Todd Monken announced that Deshaun Watson will be their starting quarterback for Week 1. Five years ago, this would’ve been a good thing. In 2026, nobody is excited about it.

Back in 2022, the Cleveland Browns sent three first-round picks plus a few mid-round picks to the Houston Texans in exchange for Deshaun Watson, who, at the time, was a three-time Pro Bowler coming off a season where he totaled over 5,200 yards and 36 touchdowns, but was also in the midst of fighting sexual assault accusations. The Browns also signed Watson to a five-year, $230 million deal that was fully guaranteed.

Watson was then suspended for 11 games and fined $5 million by the NFL, but he was able to come back for the final six games of the season, where he was wildly disappointing, throwing for 1,102 yards with seven touchdowns and five picks. Since then, Watson has suffered two Achilles injuries and has appeared in a total of 12 games for the Browns, totaling 2,263 passing yards, 290 rushing yards and 14 total touchdowns with seven picks. Needless to say, the Browns have not gotten their money’s worth.

In the Browns’ second preseason game, where Watson went 5-for-12 for 35 yards with an interception, Cleveland fans started booing Watson, and let’s just say he was not too happy about it.

Deshaun Watson’s Comments

After his poor performance in the preseason, Watson was asked how he felt about the fans booing him, and he claims it has nothing to do with performance.

“I think the whole world knows it has nothing to do about the performance,” Watson said. “It’s a little bit more personal than that. So I think it’s a disrespectful thing. So yeah, I mean, I’m going to keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that.”

In four years with the Browns, Watson has played in 19 of a possible 68 regular-season games and has thrown for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and then he went out and played horribly in the preseason. I think the fans booing might have been related to his performance…

But even if it wasn’t, Watson has this team in a headlock. He’s making nearly $50 million a year, with it all fully guaranteed, and if they wanted to cut him today, it would cost them over $80 million in dead money. And on top of that, when you have 20+ women accusing you of sexual assault, fans have the right to boo you even if you’re playing like an MVP.

Watson already didn’t have the support of the Browns’ fanbase, but now he certainly doesn’t.

Browns Fans Are Not Going to be Happy

Football teams should never make a decision fully based on how the fanbase will react, but in some situations, it should play a factor, and I believe this is one of those times.

Browns fans have been through the ringer. Cleveland has never even been to a Super Bowl, much less won one; they haven’t made a conference championship game since the 1980s, and recently, it’s only gotten worse. Since 2000, the Browns have made the playoffs three times, and they’ve only won a single playoff game during that span. And the quarterback who won them that playoff game was the one they ditched in favor of Watson.

Browns fans have legitimately had nothing to celebrate in over 25 years, but they’re still one of the most loyal fanbases in the entire NFL. And how do you repay them? By naming the quarterback they all hate, and the one who just called out the entire fanbase, your starter for Week 1.

Again, decisions should never be made solely on how the fanbase feels, but considering that I don’t think the gap between Watson and Sanders is that big, and the fact that Watson is going to be gone in a year while these millions of fans will still be filling seats and cheering the team on every week, maybe their feelings should’ve been taken into account just a little bit more.

Deshaun Watson vs Shedeur Sanders

It’s always felt like Deshaun Watson was going to be Cleveland’s starting quarterback. Even though it was a competition, it really wasn’t. This was a predetermined outcome, and it’s never been clearer that Shedeur Sanders never had a chance.

I’m not a Sanders sympathizer like a lot of people on the internet. I don’t think he’s a very good quarterback, but I also don’t think Watson is. In the preseason, Sanders is 15-for-22 for 153 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Meanwhile, Watson is 16-for-27 for 162 yards with zero touchdowns, a pick, and a fumble lost. Sanders has a better completion percentage, more yards per attempt, more touchdowns, and the same number of turnovers, and on top of that, Watson called out the fanbase, and he still won the starting job.

Again, I don’t think Sanders is a starting quarterback in the NFL, but even I can acknowledge that he was never given a shot in this battle. It was always going to be Watson, largely because the Browns want to try to get something out of the worst contract ever given out in the history of sports.

The Browns always have been and always will be the biggest dumpster fire in sports, and this Deshaun Watson situation is just another chapter in their 1,000-page book on how to run a franchise into the ground.