Watson ‘lacked consistency’ during OTAs

Early in the offseason, it looked like the Browns were more than comfortable rolling Watson out as their Week 1 starter. Then they saw Watson practice. Reports from OTAs and minicamp were not kind to Watson, though Sanders didn’t earn great reviews either. After getting a better look at both players, it sounds like new head coach Todd Monken truly doesn’t know who will take the first snap this year. By virtue of not being Deshaun Watson, Sanders has forced a legitimate training camp competition, though we doubt much fantasy value comes from the situation, regardless of who wins the job.

Florio’s discoveries come after he was asked, “How much cap space did the Browns save due to the insurance policy on Deshaun Watson for him missing the entire 2025 season?” After what appears to be an exhaustive amount of work to come up with a ballpark figure, Florio reports the “total in cap credit for 2024 through 2029" was just over $88 million, a total that is derived from reported cap credits the Browns have received or will receive that range from $4.951 million to $8.79 million. These were reflected in records obtained from the NFLPA, which showed in multiple locations in Watson’s contract a “return of [signing bonus] from insurance policy,” per Florio. Watson is in the final year of a record-setting five-year, $230 million fully-guaranteed contract that has come up well short of expectations for the Browns thus far. While the team is still ultimately on the hook for paying Watson, $88 million in refunds for the games Watson missed due to injury may have dulled some of the pain of those expenses for the Haslam family.

The Deshaun Watson experiment hasn’t gone as the Browns hoped when they traded for him in 2022 and signed him to a record-setting four-year, $230 million contract. Watson’s performance on the field has been underwhelming, and the torn Achilles he suffered in 2024 kept him on the sidelines for all of 2025. Despite this, the 30-year-old signal-caller is in the midst of a battle with Shedeur Sanders for the Browns’ QB1 job this season, and Berry sounds open to the possibility of Watson not only playing for the team in 2026 but also in the future. Berry didn’t rule out Watson signing a new deal with the team after this year and said, “I think you have to be open-minded and flexible” when it comes to the quarterback position. It’s hard to imagine Watson remaining with the Browns beyond this season, given how things have gone so far, but for an organization that has started over 40 different QBs since 2000, it would seem that all options truly could be on the table. Regardless of who wins the Browns’ QB1 job to start the year, we would expect to see both Watson and Sanders at some point.

Monken noted that this is easy to say now, because the team is not practicing in pads. That said, Monken opined that “it feels like he’s making quicker decisions” and that the ball is coming out of his hands faster, which he has to continue doing on game days. Monken adds that Sanders possesses playmaking ability, but he needs to “eliminate lost-yards plays.” It sounds like Sanders’ to-do list is fairly straightforward. The battle between him and QB Deshaun Watson continues.

Shedeur Sanders took the initial reps with the first team, giving him a hair-width advantage, but Deshaun Watson will get to work with the ones tomorrow and both players will split reps on Thursday. Even when this job is initially won, it sure doesn’t seem like the winner will have much of a leash, making both players risky fantasy football picks both now and in best ball.

Wolfe continues to beat the drum for Sanders, despite recent reports indicating QB Deshaun Watson was pulling ahead in the competition. Wolfe also believes that Sanders’ play is forcing head coach Todd Monken to postpone making a decision to name a starting quarterback. The battle may continue into training camp. Sanders has reportedly improved his downfield passing and processing, and has an “aura” about him that some in the building find compelling. Wolfe closes the segment by wondering aloud whether one of these quarterbacks can convince the front office to forego drafting a quarterback next year. We’ll believe it when we see it, but for now, it sounds like Sanders has pulled even with Watson.

Per Fowler, QB Shedeur Sanders “has his moments this spring,” but Watson apparently fits well in coach Todd Monken’s scheme. The new offense has “some concepts” that Watson has run in the past, which allow him to freelance at times, and Watson “likes that.” The Browns are hoping that one quarterback does enough for the coaching staff to name a starter by the time training camp rolls around in July. Once a starter is named, we can begin to assess whether the victor is actually playing well, or if he simply outperformed an uninspiring teammate.

Cleveland’s Mary Kay Cabot believes Sanders’ development from April to the first two days of organized team activities (OTAs) this week “has been profound.” It’s going to be a long spring. The Browns’ likely overhyped quarterback competition has drawn headlines for a while now. That said, Monken believes Sanders has “come miles, in terms of his progressions, getting the ball out, his understanding of concepts.” Monken has run fantasy-friendly schemes in the past. If Sanders can truly master the system, he might be able to support two (or more?) pass catchers in fantasy.

Frankly, Watson might not stick with the Browns after this season if things go poorly either. If the Browns release him next offseason and designate him as a post-June 1 release, they will incur the second-largest salary cap hit in NFL history ($86.2 million), spread over the 2027 and 2028 salary caps. They still might do it, depending on how things shake out. New Browns coach Todd Monken said he has not watched much film from Watson’s “injury-riddled play” in Cleveland because he believes it would be “unfair” to say that era represents the former Pro Bowl quarterback’s abilities. Watson is being given a real chance to earn the starting role this season, but it remains to be seen how much he has left in the tank.

It might not mean much for the forgotten man in the Browns quarterback room this offseason. Deshaun Watson continues to operate as the team’s starter in offseason practices. Shedeur Sanders is expected to compete for the starting gig, though he’s expected to be an underdog to begin the regular season under center for a revamped Cleveland offense. Head coach Todd Monken appears enamored with Watson, who has played in 19 regular season games since 2021. Gabriel had the NFL’s lowest EPA per drop back in 2025, just ahead of Sanders. The Browns have insisted they would not trade Gabriel this offseason.