Deshaun Watson Is Somehow QB1 for the Browns Again and None of It Makes Sense

The Cleveland Browns and head coach Todd Monken have announced that Deshaun Watson will be their starting quarterback heading into week one. Watson beat out the trio of Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and Taylen Green to win the starting job, and will be given one last, undeserved chance to make any value out of his contract.

I’m going to try to keep most of this breakdown to what’s happened on the field in the Watson/Cleveland saga, but you can’t really discuss him without acknowledging it. This past weekend, the Browns had their second preseason game, and it was mostly a disaster. Watson was booed off the field and carried some long-standing animosity into his press conference.

The last time Watson was on the field in Cleveland, he was booed off the field on a stretcher after tearing his Achilles. Many Browns fans have always hated the move, but just like Steelers fans with Ben Roethlisberger or Lakers fans with Kobe Bryant, winning will shield you from almost anything you do off the field.

NFL fans are notorious for looking the other way; Browns fans had already done it when they first traded for Watson. The fans hate him now because Watson has never taken accountability for his actions. Cleveland fans are beyond numb to bad quarterback play, but Watson has taken that to new heights.

He signed one of the largest guaranteed contracts in the sport, ruined the quarterback market, and has played 18 games in four seasons. I think fans are just over the Watson era here in Cleveland. He’s abysmal when he’s healthy; he’s as egotistical as ever, and he probably should never have played football again after everything he did off the field.

Unfortunately, even if you ignore everything else about Watson, he still might be the best quarterback left in Cleveland. Sanders played much better than Watson this weekend, but he’s done everything in his power to lose the starting quarterback battle. They’re simply the worst quarterback duo in the NFL.

I have no idea how these are the two guys Cleveland’s planning to run onto Huntington Bank Field this year. They’re two of the worst quarterbacks I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching, and they also bring too much negative publicity for that to be acceptable.

Honestly, the Browns should just start Dillon Gabriel this year. If they start Watson or Sanders, they could accidentally win more than five games and work themselves out of a top pick next year.

Jared Verse, Spencer Fano, KC Conception, and Denzel Boston are just some of the young talent you brought in to fix the culture, and they’ve done a tremendous job at it. It’s a shame that their first season on the lake will be clouded by pointless quarterback controversy all year.

Cleveland is over Deshaun Watson, and it’s a shame he’s getting paid $30 million this year and still won’t look at his own faults and mistakes.