What’s Browns QB plan with DeShaun Watson struggling, ex-Baker Mayfield on deck

The Cleveland Browns‘ quarterback situation with Deshaun Watson is the textbook example of living out the sunk-cost fallacy. 

The Browns put a lot of effort and money into landing the three-time Pro Bowler, and they certainly have 230 million reasons to keep him as QB1. However, there comes a time when you can’t ignore what your eyes tell you: Watson is not the answer in Cleveland.

But with a 0-1 start in the 2026 season, a poor showing at the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ex-quarterback Baker Mayfield on deck in Week 2, it begs the question: What are the Browns getting at here? With their quarterback situation so clearly in disarray, what is their plan moving forward? 

Let’s take a look.

How did we get here?

Cleveland paved the way for Watson in 2022 by trading away the 2018 first-overall pick, quarterback Baker Mayfield, to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick. They then sent the Houston Texans a trade package highlighted by three first-round picks for the then-three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Watson. Despite his lengthy off-field legal issues, Cleveland also made Watson the recipient of the most guaranteed money on a single contract in NFL history: a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million extension. 

Fast forward to Week 2 of the 2026 season, and the Browns are rolling with Watson as their starting quarterback despite his performance as one of the league’s two worst quarterbacks (by multiple efficiency metrics) during his Cleveland career. In Week 1 road defeat against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Watson absorbed five sacks, threw an easy interception and had the Browns trailing 31-0 at one point. Watson’s teammates have clearly had it with him. When asked if he likes the continuity at the Browns quarterback position, safety Ronnie Hickman simply told reporters, “That’s above my pay grade.”

First-year head coach Todd Monken firmly backs the decision to keep Watson starting despite all the on-field and off-field evidence that he shouldn’t.

“Really, to be honest, [the players in the locker room] don’t have a choice,” Monken said on Monday. “This isn’t a debate. … Our job is to put the best player on the field that we think gives us the best chance to win.” 

* Only Zach Wilson ranks worse 
** Only Cam Ward ranks worse
*** Only Justin Fields ranks worse

Now, they’re set to face Mayfield, who has led the Buccaneers to two NFC South division titles in three full seasons in Tampa Bay and just re-signed with the franchise on a three-year, $165 million contract with $120 million guaranteed. In his Browns career, he produced the most wins (29), passing yards (14,125) and passing touchdowns (92) by a Cleveland quarterback since Bernie Kosar (1985-1993). Mayfield is also one of three Cleveland quarterbacks with a playoff win since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, along with Kosar and Vinny Testaverde. Since departing Cleveland in 2022, he’s thrown for the seventh-most passing yards (14,616) and the fifth-most passing touchdowns (105) in the entire NFL. The Browns have started 10 different quarterbacks in that time, tied for the most in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets. 

The most damning part of the whole situation is everyone with eyes can see Watson isn’t the answer, but since the franchise has to pay Watson whether or not he’s on the team, they’re letting him start instead of cutting him. What’s tough about keeping him under center is that he’s stunting the growth of Cleveland’s young playmakers.

First-round rookie wideout KC Concpetion had an average separation score of 0.182, the eighth-best among wide receivers on Sunday of Week 1, per Fantasy Points Data. Second-round rookie Denzel Boston’s separation score was 0.111, the 15th-best in the league among wide receivers. Second-year tight end Harold Fannin’s separation score was 0.095, the seventh-best in the league among tight ends. Yet, this trio combined for just 123 yards on eight catches with only 12 total targets between them.

So what’s their plan? 

It seems obvious the Browns intend to use Watson as their tank commander, with quarterbacks like Texas’ Arch Manning and Oregon’s Dante Moore likely to be available in the 2027 NFL Draft, in which Cleveland has two first-round picks. Monken told reporters “there were some really good things on film” when talking about Watson’s performance in the team’s 24-point Week 1 defeat. According to Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, the plan is to keep Watson as the starter for at least the first half of the season. Not only does Watson seem determined to wreck the Browns’ on the field with subpar performance, but he intends to kill the vibes off the field by taking zero accountability for his lack of production.

“I think the media has this expectation that I’m supposed to throw 400 yards and five touchdowns every week,” Watson told reporters on Wednesday. 

Across his 20 starts in his four seasons with Cleveland, Watson has never thrown for 300 yards in a game.

Shedeur Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round pick who is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, injected much more life into the team across seven starts last season. Perhaps he can get some run in the second half of 2026 as he did in 2025. Until then, it will be a slog to the finish line of the 2026 season, with Browns fans praying for Manning or Moore in April next year.