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By the time the NFL season begins, Deshaun Watson will not have taken a snap in nearly two years.
Since rupturing his Achilles, the Cleveland Browns have drafted three quarterbacks, including Shedeur Sanders, who took the reins to close the 2025 season after Dillon Gabriel, who started after Joe Flacco was traded, suffered a concussion.
However, Cleveland.com reported Wednesday that Watson still has the “inside track” to be named the Browns’ Week 1 starter, citing sources.
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Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns looks to pass during a voluntary veteran minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea, Ohio, on April 21, 2026. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
On the first day of the team’s minicamp, Sanders was set to get more reps with the first team, but Watson wound up getting more. On day two, Watson was the first quarterback to get first-team reps and again had the most of anyone.
Gabriel, the outlet said, did not get any, and Watson “had earned the QB1 snaps by looking the part of a starting quarterback.”
Despite drafting Gabriel in the third round last year and Sanders in the fifth, Cleveland added one more quarterback to its crowded room last week in Arkansas’ Taylen Green.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
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It is a young Browns roster, as it appears their three main playmakers are either in their first or second seasons (running back Quinshon Judkins is entering year two, while the Browns drafted wide receivers at 24 and 39). The Browns also went offensive line with the ninth pick. So, as Cleveland.com mentioned, the veteran in Watson may be better equipped for those types of surroundings.
However, he is entering the last year of his $230 million contract that the front office has admitted was a “swing and a miss.”
Quarterback play for Cleveland was poor throughout the season no matter who was taking snaps, ranking 31st in completion percentage (57.89%) and passing yards per game (165.1). Sanders’ three wins as a starter were more than Gabriel and Flacco combined, but his 56.6 completion percentage was the lowest, as was his 4.7 interception percentage, keeping the quarterback competition open.
Shedeur Sanders watches as Deshaun Watson runs a drill during a voluntary veteran minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea, Ohio, on April 21, 2026. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
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Since Watson was acquired ahead of the 2021 season, he has played in 19 of a possible 85 games, throwing for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while facing injuries and a suspension amid sexual assault allegations.
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