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Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is heading into the final year of his contract.

There is a growing belief that the Cleveland Browns cannot hold a clean quarterback competition due to their investment in Deshaun Watson.

Reports have surfaced that Watson has already taken an early lead over Shedeur Sanders. Questions are mounting over whether the Browns’ stated open competition is genuine or a foregone conclusion shaped by a $230 million mistake.

Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reported that Watson has the upper hand over Sanders and the inside track to be named QB1 following the team’s first voluntary minicamp. Cabot later clarified the scope of her report.

“My report stated that Watson emerged from voluntary minicamp with an edge over Shedeur Sanders in the competition, and that he has the inside track to be named QB1,” Cabot said. “I did not report that he won the competition or that he’s going to be named the starter. Just because Watson has the edge right now doesn’t mean that Sanders can’t beat him out.”

Jackson: Browns Don’t Live in Ideal World With Deshaun Watson

Zac Jackson of The Athletic put the Browns on notice over what the early reps signal and why their “performance-based” evaluation of the quarterbacks might not be genuine.

“In an ideal world, not only would it be 100% performance-based, but it would be clear to those making the decisions and the players in the locker room that whoever outperformed the other guy would take the job, run with it, and grow with the locker room and the coaching staff,” Jackson said on The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. “But one of the reasons the Browns don’t live in an ideal world is because four years ago, they made the worst trade in the history of the NFL. This guy is still on the team because you can’t cut him.

“I can’t imagine a scenario where anything has been decided already based on what they’ve seen. Two weeks from today, we will get to the start of OTAs, and we will see. But we are hearing things out there that they have decided Deshaun will perform better.”

Deshaun Watson Has Chance for ‘Fresh Start’

Publicly, the Browns have changed their tone on Watson. And it starts at the top. Owner Jimmy Halsam called the trade for Watson a “big swing and miss” ahead of the 2025 season. He had a different perspective when recently discussing his $230 million investment.

“Deshaun has a great chance, fresh start, offensive-minded coach, who has in his past been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful,” Haslam said, per ESPN. “So, Deshaun has a great chance to do that now. We talked to him the other day, he said he weighs the [least] he has in several years. He’s in great shape. Let’s see what Deshaun can do. We’re all excited.”

First-year head coach Todd Monken would like to have a starter named before training camp. However, he said it’s too soon to make any conclusions.

“I’m not there yet, so I can’t say there’s a leader,” Monken said. “We’ve been on the field three days.”

Dillon Gabriel and sixth-round rookie Taylen Green are also in the quarterback room but are not considered serious contenders for the starting role.