Are Cleveland Browns already set up to bench Deshaun Watson for Shedeur Sanders?

Are Cleveland Browns already set up to bench Deshaun Watson for Shedeur Sanders?

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Are Cleveland Browns already set up to bench Deshaun Watson for Shedeur Sanders?

Ryan Fitzpatrick worked the Amazon Prime Video broadcast of Thursday night’s preseason game between the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots, and in the third quarter at Huntington Bank Field he offered a forecast about Cleveland’s quarterback situation that Kirk Herbstreit questioned on the spot.

Days earlier, Fitzpatrick had spent a segment of his podcast working through the film on both Browns quarterbacks and explaining why Todd Monken’s choice held up.

DeShaun Watson (left) and Shedeur Sander (right). Photo credits: Imagn
DeShaun Watson (left) and Shedeur Sander (right). Photo credits: Imagn

“Deshaun, once he fails, Shedeur is going to jump into this thing, and he’s going to be the guy,” Fitzpatrick said alongside Al Michaels and Herbstreit. “And this city is going to be behind him.” Herbstreit asked if he really expected Watson to fail. “Yeah, it’s gonna happen,” Fitzpatrick said.

On his Fitz & Whit podcast with Andrew Whitworth, Fitzpatrick had gone through the tape on both quarterbacks.

“He knows how to do an operation in the NFL. He knows how to get the ball out. He knows how to throw on time. He knows how to throw with anticipation. Those are all things that he does and does well,” Fitzpatrick said. “On the flip side of it, when you watch Shedeur, there are things that certainly pop. He makes more plays downfield with some of the throws and scrambling outside the pocket. But rarely is he playing on time. I think this is probably why he lost the job to Deshaun.”

The case Fitzpatrick made on the podcast was about the huddle work, the timing and the operation, all of which describe who is further along right now. Monken still has three other quarterbacks in the room behind Watson, including the one who finished last season as Cleveland’s starter. Dillon Gabriel and sixth-round rookie Taylen Green fill out the group.

 

How much time does Deshaun Watson actually have?

Watson has not thrown a touchdown pass this preseason. He completed 16 of 27 attempts for 162 yards with an interception across Cleveland’s first two exhibition games, and he sat out Thursday’s 37-13 win over New England.

His last regular-season appearance came in 2024, before a second Achilles rupture cost him all of 2025.

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Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, center, poses for a portrait with general manager Andrew Berry, left, and coach Kevin Stefanski during Watson’s introductory news conference March 26, 2022, in Berea, Ohio.

This is the final season of the five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract Watson signed in 2022, and it carries a cap hit of nearly $41 million. Sanders threw for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games last season, seven of them starts.

Cleveland opens at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13, the first of two road games before the home opener in Week 3. That schedule keeps Watson away from Huntington Bank Field until the third week of the season.

The post Are Cleveland Browns already set up to bench Deshaun Watson for Shedeur Sanders? appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.

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