Deshaun Watson has 'inside track' to be Browns' Week 1 starting quarterback over Shedeur Sanders: report

Cleveland Browns legend Joe Thomas shared his confidence in rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who has settled in after a tumultuous start to his career.

By the time the NFL season begins, Deshaun Watson will not have taken a snap in nearly two years.

Since rupturing his Achilles, the Cleveland Browns have drafted three quarterbacks, including Shedeur Sanders, who took the reins to close the 2025 season after Dillon Gabriel, who started after Joe Flacco was traded, suffered a concussion.

However, Cleveland.com reported Wednesday that Watson still has the "inside track" to be named the Browns' Week 1 starter, citing sources.

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Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns looks to pass during a voluntary veteran minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea, Ohio, on April 21, 2026. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

On the first day of the team's minicamp, Sanders was set to get more reps with the first team, but Watson wound up getting more. On day two, Watson was the first quarterback to get first-team reps and again had the most of anyone.

Gabriel, the outlet said, did not get any, and Watson "had earned the QB1 snaps by looking the part of a starting quarterback."

Despite drafting Gabriel in the third round last year and Sanders in the fifth, Cleveland added one more quarterback to its crowded room last week in Arkansas' Taylen Green.

Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

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It is a young Browns