Starting QB Revealed for Browns Preseason Opener with Bears

It's not a final decision, but Todd Monken's made his first decision regarding the team's starting quarterback as the Cleveland Browns prepare to hit the road for their preseason showdown with the Chicago Bears. 

Following Day 13 of training camp, Monken revealed that Deshaun Watson will be first up to start under center for Saturday's preseason opener. The decision is part of a larger plan to ultimately give both Watson and Shedeur Sanders one start apiece over the first two weeks of the preseason, before ultimately naming an official starter for the 2026 season. 

"We're going to see both of them," Monken reiterated prior to practice on Wednesday.  I mean, one's going to start this week and one's going to start next week. And we're going to play about similarly. I'd like to see a quarterback play a half and get a two-minute. We're going to do everything we can to try and get a two minute, right? Simulate that for the half and we're going to try to do the exact same thing the next week." 

Watson will take the field with the majority of the team's starting offense on around him, according to Monken. The one except will be anyone dealing with an injury at the moment. 

The plan is to pkay all of the teams healthy starters on both sides of the ball for at least one series, and then adjust accordingly. How Chicago handles their starters could impact how Monken ultimately plays things.

Watson, however will play until halftime regardless of what group is out there. 

"We’re not going to do that," said Monken on keeping the starting o-line out longer. "We’d like our starters to begin the game. We’ll see where they’re at in terms of who they’re playing up front. I think it’d be unfair to our quarterbacks, either game, to not have our guys up front to give our quarterback a chance to function, so that’ll be predicated on what the Bears do a little bit."

To this point, Monken has rotated the quarterbacks every other day of practice throughout training camp, with the exception of last Saturday when he altered the order to give Watson some additional reps with the first team. 

He downplayed the decision as simply him changing his mind because Sanders had apparently taken more first team reps to that point. The rotation picked back up on Monday with Sanders running with the first team, followed by Watson on Tuesday and Sanders again Wednesday. 

Monken was adamant that the competition is far from over, and that the next few weeks of preseason games and a joint practice with the Buffalo Bills will be crucial pieces of the puzzle in maming a QB1 for Week 1. 

“I have my reasons for how it’s going to go, and it’s still a competition," he asserted. "We’re excited to watch guys practice today, let alone on Saturday, and then next week against Buffalo, and we’ll get a chance to see them both. Every week we’ll assess it."

For now Watson is up first, with Sanders due to start against the Bills next week. 

It will be Watson's first time taking the field as Cleveland's starting QB since he ruptured his Achilles in October of 2024. He also missed the 2025 season after re-tearing the tendon, which required a second surgery in January of last year.