The Cleveland Browns had a big offseason of change and their roster got a whole lot younger as a result. Cleveland head coach Todd Monken will be starting his first training camp as the man in charge at the end of this month, and an interesting season of Browns football is right around the corner. 

When training camp begins, you can bet a lot of the attention is going to be on the Browns’ starting QB battle. Deshaun Watson is back and healthy, and the job is between him and second-year QB Shedeur Sanders.  

ESPN faults the Browns for how they approached their quarterback room

Cleveland did a lot of work to its roster this offseason from the offensive line overhaul to trading Myles Garrett. The Browns chose to roll the dice with the same quarterback room for another season, outside of the addition of sixth-round rookie Taylen Green. ESPN’s Seth Walder raised an interesting point on players the Browns could have potentially added at the Karoo. 

One area where Cleveland did not add much was at quarterback,” Walder wrote. “Though the Browns drafted Taylen Green, an intriguing long-shot prospect, they are entering training camp seemingly set for a competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.”

A better path would have been to treat Watson as a sunk cost and perhaps acquire another long-shot quarterback – Spencer Rattler? Tanner McKee? Tyson Bagent? — to compete with Sanders. The Browns need as many chances as they can get to find their next long-term quarterback, and Watson is almost certainly not going to be it.”

I absolutely agree with the thought that the Browns could have added another veteran option to the room. I think their decision not to do leans more on what they think Green can potentially be with some development, and their thoughts on how the potentially available QBs compare to what they already have in-house. 

The best-case scenario for the Browns is that either Watson or Sanders looks like the real deal this season. If they don’t, they’ll know it’s time to move on from both. All signs point to the 2027 draft as where the Browns will be adding a quarterback. Watson will be a free agent and Sanders will not have shown enough in two seasons if Cleveland goes that route.  

Cleveland’s schedule is easier this season and perhaps they will win a few more games. There was a time when it looked like Watson wouldn’t suit up for the team again. Now, at this time I’d expect him to walk out there and be the Week 1 starter. Either way it goes, the on-field play will show the Browns if they should have brought another quarterback in.