Following an abysmal season opener, the Cleveland Browns' patience wears thin. Deshaun Watson faces a high-stakes ultimatum against Tampa Bay as a potential benching looms before the home opener.
The Cleveland Browns will start Deshaun Watson at quarterback for their Week 2 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Browns offense struggled to get anything going with Watson as the starter in Week 1. The Browns recorded 272 yards in the 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, with 89 of those yards coming on a junk-time touchdown drive on their final offensive possession when the game was well out of reach.
Watson went 16 of 22 passing for 205 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was the Browns' leading rusher with 38 yards on six carries. Following the game, Cleveland head coach Todd Monken suggested the offense needed to be better around Watson.
However, the Browns could make a quarterback change before their home opener against the Carolina Panthers in Week 3. Watson irritated the Cleveland fan base with his comments during the preseason, and those fans could be even more vocal if the Browns are 0-2 next week.
Per Ian Rapoport of ESPN, some people are "frustrated" with the offense in the Browns building. Cleveland will make a decision between starting Watson or Shedeur Sanders in Week 3 based on Watson's performance against the Buccaneers on Sunday.
"While no firm decision has been made for Week 3, the belief is that the first two games would serve as a natural evaluation point," Rapoport wrote.
"In other words, the Browns could use the return to Cleveland for their Week 3 home opener and a two-game sample size as the impetus for a quarterback change."
The Browns had every reason in the world to start Watson during the first two weeks. Cleveland needs to evaluate Watson to see if there's any hope of saving face after giving up vast resources to trade the Houston Texans for the quarterback and than pay him a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed salary.
Up to this point, the trade has been a failure for the Browns. If Watson can't move the ball against Tampa Bay, Cleveland must start its evaluation of Sanders, to see if the standout at Colorado has a chance to be a franchise quarterback.
