The Browns may not wait long to make a quarterback decision if Deshaun Watson doesn’t clean things up fast.
Per Ian Rapoport, Cleveland plans to reevaluate the position after its game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a notable shift after head coach Todd Monken had stood firm that Watson was the starter and that this would not become a week-to-week issue. That stance has changed after one start, with another still to come before the Browns get home.
Watson’s first weeks have done little to quiet the noise. During training camp, reports said he was inaccurate and throwing the ball to the defense.
In his second preseason game, he struggled to move the offense against a third-team defense. Then Week 1 brought another disjointed outing, one that only added to the sense that he has not locked down the job.
The bigger concern for Cleveland is how the offense has looked around him. Monken installed a new system this summer with a roster full of first- and second-year players learning on the fly, and Watson was supposed to help steady that process.
Instead, last week he was late with audibles, helped trigger delay of game penalties and false starts, and didn’t push the ball downfield when the Browns needed him to. The result was an offense that looked out of sync from top to bottom.
After the game in Jacksonville, Monken and offensive coordinator Travis Switzer defended Watson and said he was making the correct reads. But that explanation didn’t line up with what showed up on the field, and the gap between the public defense and the film has only widened the frustration.
Watson’s own comments haven’t helped. Before the season, after being booed during the preseason at home, he pushed back on the criticism and said the Browns would play “17 away games” this year because of the constant boos. After last week’s poor performance, he again took aim at the outside noise, saying expectations were too high and that people expect him to “throw for 400 yards [and] five touchdowns every week".
Now Cleveland appears closer to the line fans have been demanding the team cross. After four long seasons of Watson’s signing dragging down the Browns’ success, patience is running thin. Monken and his staff have maintained that Watson gave them the best chance to win, but if he brings back another flat performance from Tampa Bay, the Browns will have to seriously revisit the quarterback spot before they return home.
That matters for more than just one game. Cleveland is leaning on a lot of young players, and the staff can’t afford a toxic atmosphere in its own stadium if the season opens with an 0-2 start. Owner Jimmy Haslam also has bigger-picture concerns, including selling fans on the team’s future before the new dome opens and making the franchise more attractive to any quarterback who might consider signing there.
Backup Shedeur Sanders is also part of that conversation. The source notes that Sanders showed slight promise last season, and that the Browns need to fully evaluate him before next year’s draft. His public persona gives fans someone they can rally around, and the idea is clear: let the veteran handle the first two road games, then potentially turn things over to the second-year player in front of the home crowd.
Rapoport’s report suggests the Browns are finally hearing what has been echoing around them for weeks. The message is now unmistakable: Watson is on notice, and if Tampa Bay looks like the first two games, Cleveland may have no choice but to move on.
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