Deshaun Watson takes the field Saturday for the first time since October 2024. Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken named him the starter for the team’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, with rookie Shedeur Sanders set to start the following week against Buffalo. According to ESPN, Monken informed both quarterbacks of his plan after Wednesday’s practice, and each is expected to play roughly a half.
Not everyone in Cleveland is ready to call it a fresh start. Radio host Ken Carman, speaking on 92.3 The Fan’s morning show, was blunt when asked whether Watson deserves any benefit of the doubt heading into the competition. “No. He doesn’t get any credit,” Carman said, according to BrownsNation. “I think the organization gets blamed. He’s not proven anything to me.”
It’s the kind of line that captures where a lot of Browns fans are after four years of a deal that hasn’t come close to paying off.
A $230 Million Bet That Hasn’t Cashed In
Cleveland sent the Houston Texans three first-round picks (2022, 2023 and 2024), a 2023 third-rounder and two fourth-round selections to acquire Watson in March 2022, then signed him to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract — still the largest fully guaranteed deal in NFL history, per NFL.com‘s reporting at the time.
The return has been rough. Watson has started 19 games for Cleveland, throwing for 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns with a passer rating of 80.7, according to StatMuse. That’s a steep drop from the quarterback who led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards and threw 33 touchdowns for Houston in 2020, a season that earned him All-Pro recognition and was the third of his three career Pro Bowl selections.
An 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy cost him most of his first season in Cleveland. Then came the injuries. He tore his right Achilles tendon in October 2024 and missed the rest of that year. A second surgery in January 2025 wiped out his entire 2025 season, per ESPN.
| Category | Watson with Browns | Watson’s 2020 season (HOU) |
|---|---|---|
| Games started | 19 | 16 |
| Passing yards | 3,365 | 4,823 |
| Touchdowns | 19 | 33 |
| Passer rating | 80.7 | 112.4 |
Carman Isn’t Alone in His Doubts
Carman’s skepticism has been a running theme through camp. Reacting to Monken’s praise of all four Browns quarterbacks during camp, Carman pushed back specifically on the coach’s comments about Watson. “I don’t think he really is capable of those things,” Carman said, according to The Big Lead. “I’m not trying to say nasty things. I’m just being honest with everybody.”
Watson, for his part, has framed the preseason opener as a chance to change the conversation. “I’m super excited,” he said Wednesday, according to the Browns’ official site. “All the hard work that I put in with the training staff, with my team, my personal team, to get to this stage has been tremendous for me.”
What Monken Is Actually Looking For
Monken hasn’t tipped his hand much on who’s ahead in the quarterback race. He’s said only that the decision on who starts Saturday came down to a plan for evaluating both players fairly, not a declaration of a winner. Each quarterback will get a half of work, with the plan to give both a two-minute drill look before Sanders gets his turn as the starter against Buffalo on Aug. 22.
That structure matters. Sanders started the final seven games of his rookie season in 2025, going 3-4 with seven touchdown passes against 10 interceptions — a rough audition, but also more recent proof of live-game reps than Watson has had in nearly two years. Watson’s Total QBR of 33.1 since arriving in Cleveland would rank last among qualifying quarterbacks if he had enough starts to qualify, per ESPN’s reporting.
Whichever way the competition breaks, this is Watson’s last realistic shot to justify the largest guaranteed contract in league history before it plays out. He’s entering the final year of that deal. Saturday won’t decide anything on its own, but for a fan base that’s heard this story before, it’s the first real look at whether there’s anything left to see.
