Sanders lifts lid on bond with Watson as Browns QB battle nears crunch point

With just over three weeks until the first preseason game gets underway, training camp will likely decide who emerges from the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition with the starting job.

As has been the case all summer, Todd Monken's choice appears to be between second-year man Shedeur Sanders and veteran Deshaun Watson.

Sanders spoke to reporters at a youth camp he was running this week, and played it coy on where things stand.

"Trying to be the best version of ourselves"

Whoever wins the job, they can look forward to playing behind a remodelled offensive line, throwing to an improved group of receivers, and working with a new playcaller in Monken.

But Sanders isn't getting ahead of himself, instead reiterating the same message he's had since the two players alternated first-team reps in April's minicamp.

"I would say it's the same thing that we've been saying from Day 1," Sanders said on NFL's The Insiders. "We're both trying to be the best version of ourselves we could be.

"We're not going to let anything get in between that. So it's a level of respect that we all in the quarterback room have for each other.

"And we're not really emotional when it comes to things that we can't control. We mainly focus on and thrive on getting better in the work every day.

"So if I like something he's doing, I ask. If he likes something I do, then [he] asks. It's conversation, and that's what's most effective."

The case for Watson

Nick Cammett / Stringer

Watson missed all of 2025 rehabbing the same right Achilles, torn twice within a four-month span, a nightmare stretch that unfolded across a single offseason.

Cleveland has since reworked his contract, pushing a chunk of that infamous $230 million guarantee further down the road and clawing back tens of millions in cap room this year.

Whether Watson's body can actually withstand the rigours of the NFL remains unknown. And even at his best, that 2020 campaign in Houston where he threw for over 4,800 yards and 33 touchdowns feels like it belongs to a different career entirely.

With that said, back in April, Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot suggested that Watson had the lead after watching the two compete in voluntary sessions.

The case for Sanders

Sanders showed flashes in 2025 without ever really looking anything like the finished article, but that's the case for every rookie.

Despite finishing with an unenviable turnover rate and a losing record as a starter, he demonstrated growth and did enough to earn a Pro Bowl nod.

Questions lingered about his maturity, but at mandatory minicamp, Cabot raved about Sanders' "grasp of the playbook and increased efficiency in practice," suggesting he had closed the gap on Watson.

And while Watson is fighting to rediscover who he was in 2020, Sanders is still discovering his ceiling, and at 24, time is working in his favour.