The Browns named Deshaun Watson their Week 1 starter over Shedeur Sanders for the September 13 opener at Jacksonville, ending an offseason-long quarterback battle. But Watson has played just 19 games since 2022 — missing the 2025 season entirely with a re-ruptured Achilles — and enters 2026 on a short leash with a fanbase that loudly booed him during the preseason. Sanders, who started the final seven games of a tumultuous 2025 rookie season, and Dillon Gabriel are both waiting in the wings.