Just two days after Deshaun Watson called Cleveland Browns fans "disrespectful" for booing him, head coach Todd Monken named the quarterback his team's Week 1 starter. Second-year signal-caller Shedeur Sanders will serve as Watson's backup.
It's a decision that won't be palatable for Browns fans, who shouldn't have high hopes for the 2026 season. It doesn't inspire much optimism for Sanders' future either.
"We're not anticipating this being a week-by-week thing," Monken told reporters of the move. "Ultimately, we felt like, to start the season on the road, Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball and score points."
Recent history suggests Watson's spot at the top of the depth chart is tenuous, though.
It's been four years since any Browns quarterback managed to start at least eight games in a season. The most recent was Jacoby Brissett, who took the reins for most of the 2022 season.
At that time, Watson was serving an 11-game suspension after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. Since his ban ended, Watson has started only 19 games with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
In preseason, Watson hasn't looked like a quarterback who has turned a corner and is ready to resemble the player who once earned three straight Pro Bowl nods with the Houston Texans. In a 31-7 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Watson completed only five of his 12 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception into double coverage.
Meanwhile, Sanders connected on nine of his 11 passes for 74 yards with an interception and the Browns' only touchdown of the game.
So why turn to Watson now?
With his contract set to void in March 2027, the upcoming season will almost certainly be Watson's last in Cleveland. Wouldn't it make sense for the Browns to see if there's a chance Sanders could be their quarterback of the future before the 2027 NFL Draft offers the team its opportunity to take a replacement?
Perhaps that's the plan.
Seen through a cynical lens, Monken's decision could be one that makes the Browns' inevitable turn to Sanders more graceful. Cleveland is now positioned to turn to the 24-year-old passer when expectations and pressures are lower. If Sanders was the Week 1 starter and struggled early in the year, turning to Watson (and the chorus of boos that follow him) would've been an ugly alternative.
Or maybe Monken has simply seen enough in quarterback meetings to believe that Watson is the more capable of the two to run the offense.
Regardless, it seems a bumpy road is ahead for a Browns franchise that seemingly always finds itself on the bumpiest road possible.
Adam Stites is a contributing writer for theScore.
