Cleveland Reportedly Weighs Moving Past Deshaun Watson With New QB Options
Todd Monken and Andrew Barry have a substantial decision to make, one that could have an effect on the Cleveland Browns' foreseeable future regarding the quarterback position.
It is a three-way horse race for the starting QB role at the Cleveland Browns. That job is being eyed by Deshaun Wason, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel. Now, with the head coach having no favorites, an insider believes the franchise would like to narrow down the contenders.
"He’d (Deshaun Watson)be tough to move for financial reasons but is part of a huge stable of passers in Cleveland," NFL insider Brad Gagnon wrote. "The Browns would likely love to part ways if they could find a taker willing to work with them on the money. … As we’ve noted, they could find a suitor for Watson if they want to leave it to the youngsters."
Watson signed an enormous $230 million deal back in 2022 and is in the final year of his deal. The QB last played football in 2024 and appeared in only seven games. Earlier this month, the Browns restructured Watson’s contract, but they still have a massive cap hit of roughly $45 million.
This reason alone could be why the Browns will look to trade the three-time Pro Bowler and opt for their younger quarterbacks.
As for the younger quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders were both given opportunities to showcase their talents in the 2025 season.
Gabriel played 10 games and had 937 yards, with seven passing touchdowns, while Shedeur took only eight games to reach that touchdown number with 1,400 yards. Sanders later even made the Pro Bowl team for 2025 as a replacement.
While the production was promising, Sanders' eyebrow-raising ten interceptions looked especially bad next to Gabriel's two.
For the Cleveland Browns, this could be a great problem to have, but they will need to make a decision soon. Will it be the experience of Watson, or the youth of Sanders, or Gabriel?
What did head coach Todd Monken say about Deshaun Watson?
Deshaun Watson has been unlucky with injuries. The quarterback tore his Achilles tendon in 2024 and then re-aggravated it in 2025. Overall, he missed about 38 games in the last three years. But still, his head coach, Todd Monken, believes he can come back to his previous self
“I think anytime that you have a player that at one time has exhibited the skill set at an elite level, I think you’re always going to give them the benefit of the doubt that somehow we might be able to get that out of him again,” Monken said last month.
Deshaun Watson has shown that he is an elite QB across his career, with almost 18,000 passing yards and 123 passing touchdowns in the 73 games he has played. But the concern lies in his attendance numbers.
In his first four NFL years for the Houston Texans, the quarterback played 54 games. However, this number dropped to 19 for the Browns, managing under 20 passing touchdowns.
Now, it all depends on whether Watson will go back to playing at that elite level after he returns from his injury.
