Former Clemson star Deshaun Watson is entering the final year of his deal in 2026 and is competing with second-year pro Shedeur Sanders for the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job.

Both QBs split first-team reps during OTAs and minicamp, and Browns head coach Todd Monken pushed back his QB1 decision into training camp.

Training camp is now upon us, so the QB battle will really ramp up. Monken told the media that Watson and Sanders will alternate first-team reps at the start of camp.

Joining those two in Cleveland’s QB room are second-year man Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green.

“Yeah, nothing’s really changed,” Monken said during his July 29 press conference as the Browns kicked off camp. “We anticipate alternating. First of all, all four quarterbacks are going to compete. They all won’t get equal reps. Obviously, we will alternate, just like we did in the spring, Deshaun and Shedeur with the ones.”

No official leader has emerged in the ongoing competition, and Monken noted that the players’ performance on the field will ultimately decide who wins the job ahead of the team’s Week 1 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.

“Ultimately, I’m not going to decide who the starter is. They decide by their play. Their play decides who the starter is,” Monken said. “I don’t have any preconceived notions of how they’ve played in the past or how they’re going to play. I only can, with my eyes, judge. And guys have got to play well around them. I think we’ve shored up some things up front. We’ve added some weapons on the perimeter, so I think that’s going to help.

“But they’ll decide who plays — I don’t decide who plays, the players decide who plays.”

In March 2022, Watson signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract with the Browns after being traded from the Houston Texans, who gave away a bunch of draft picks (including three first-round picks) in the deal.

Watson has not played in an NFL game since he suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear during Cleveland’s Week 7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20, 2024. Less than three months after his initial tear, Watson tore his Achilles for the second time and underwent a second surgery in January 2025 to repair it, forcing him to miss the entire 2025 season. He also underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in November 2023.

Facing that adversity in recent seasons, both on and off the field, Watson played in just six games in his first season with Cleveland in 2022 after having to serve a suspension and then was limited to just six games in 2023, seven in 2024 and zero in 2025 due to the season-ending injuries. However, despite all the injury setbacks, the 30-year-old said in June that he is “fully healthy” again.

In 19 total games for the Browns, Watson has completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

ESPN made a prediction for Cleveland’s Week 1 starter, predicting Watson to win the job, at least initially.

“The process-driven Browns aren’t going to decide this based on public perception — that is, what their fans would think,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote. “And Monken, who has waited a long time to be a head coach, is likely to push for the guy who gives Cleveland the best chance to win. A healthy Watson, performing the way he did early in spring practices, could very well end training camp looking like that guy.

“But I’m very much of the belief that Sanders will play a representative number of games this season, even if he doesn’t get to play the first one. The Browns need to know what they have before next year’s draft.”

The “common sentiment” among people Graziano surveyed, he wrote, is “they have to play Shedeur at some point.”

“They know Watson isn’t going to be there [beyond this season],” an AFC front office executive said, via Graziano.

“My question is whether they keep Deshaun on the team if they go with [Sanders],” an AFC scout added, via Graziano.

Graziano says the Browns “almost certainly would” have to keep Watson.

“The Browns have to pay Watson that $46 million this season no matter what,” Graziano wrote. “Releasing him would result in a completely untenable $127 million in dead money cap charges. They could split that up, taking about $41 million in dead money this year and the remaining roughly $86 million in 2027, but those are the same cap charges they’ll have for him anyway if he’s on the team all season and his contract voids, as it’s scheduled to in March. Even if he doesn’t play, they’re better off keeping Watson and designating him as a post-June 1 cut next spring to spread that $86 million out over two years.”

A three-time Pro Bowler during his time with the Texans, Watson has a 66.2 completion percentage for his career with 17,904 passing yards and 123 passing touchdowns with 48 interceptions in 73 career games with the Texans and Browns since being selected by Houston in the first round (12th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.