Deshaun Watson was named the starter by Browns HC Todd Monken over Shedeur Sanders despite outrage from fans after years of disappointing performances and especially his preseason press-conference, where Watson called out Browns fans. Watson is currently in the last year of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract and has only 19 competitive starts in his first four seasons with the Browns.

The majority of fans wanted to see sophmore QB Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, start the season as QB1 so the Browns could better assess what they have in him heading into the stacked 2027 draft.

Skip Bayless recently came out in support of Shedeur Sanders after he was named backup QB and has urged the Browns to trade him so he can get a fair shot in another team:

"Just set Shedeur free, man. Cut him loose, give him a shot. Let him go find a home somewhere. Somebody out there in an NFL front office believes in Shedeur Sanders." [Skip Bayless on Shedeurs]

Shedeur Sanders had a mixed rookie year

After falling to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders started the season behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.

After Flacco was traded and Gabriel got injured, Shedeur started the last 7 games of the season, winning 3. Sanders threw 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions but was hampered by a decimated O-Line and a lack of weapons.

Written by

Pratyay