Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters this week that between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, Cleveland has two quarterbacks capable of playing winning football.
Particularly for Watson, this represents an organizational reversal after team owner Jimmy Haslam said last spring that the trade for the quarterback was “a big swing and a miss.”
But General Manager Andrew Berry said on Friday that those comments didn’t have much to do with the way the Browns have operated to set up this year’s QB competition.
“I think you deal with what you have,” Berry said in an interview with Anthony Lima and Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “You deal with how players progress or don’t progress. But honestly, the public discourse doesn’t really have a factor in terms of how we think about putting together the team, with Todd, in terms of putting together the best lineup. That really doesn’t play a factor into it.”
Berry also said that he’s not ruling anything out when it comes to Watson — including a potential new deal for the QB, who is entering the last year of his contract with Cleveland.
“I think everything is on the table,” Berry said. “I think it would be silly to go into a season saying, ‘Something absolutely can or cannot happen.’ And I think particularly at the quarterback position, we’ve seen it with guys whether it’s Sam Darnold, or Daniel Jones, or Geno Smith, even Baker after he left us and Carolina.
“So I think you have to be open-minded and flexible. But I wouldn’t rule out anything. We’re looking for guys who can perform and who can lead.”
Watson has not played a full season since 2020 when he was still with Houston. He’s started 19 games for Cleveland since 2022, completing 61 percent of his passes for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
We’ll see in August if he can beat out Sanders to reclaim his spot as Cleveland’s QB1.
