Shedeur Sanders has officially turned the Browns’ quarterback situation into a real competition. He’s already earned a solid nod from Todd Monken, who recently was all praise for him, saying he is doing a “better job” and is being “more decisive.” But does a good spring really mean that he’s ready for the keys to the offense is the real question. Well, despite Sanders’ improvement, not everyone believes the Browns should be anywhere close to making that call just yet.

“Shedeur doesn’t deserve a fair shot,” Acho declared on his Speakeasy podcast.

According to him, the keys to that role should be with Deshaun Watson, and that the veteran’s stakes are just higher compared to Shedeur Sanders.

“I need Deshaun Watson to give me every opportunity to be back to that old Deshaun Watson before I have to send him to the bench,” Acho said. “Cause if I send Deshaun Watson to the bench, it’s never to return again in the Cleveland Browns uniform. You send Shedeur to the bench, he can come back: second-year player, young kid, fifth-round pick. You send Deshaun to the bench; that’s it in Cleveland. That’s $230 million down the drain. He would have given you 19 starts in his Browns career for $230 million. So Deshaun should go into camp as QB1.”

Acho’s argument reflects the reality that the Browns are facing. Watson was brought in to be the franchise quarterback, but injuries and setbacks have simply derailed that vision from materializing. Since he arrived in Cleveland, he has served an 11-game suspension, injured his shoulder in 2023, and torn his Achilles tendon in 2024. The team is yet to get a solid return on the $230 million, five-year deal they gave Watson in ‘22. In fact, their owner, Jimmy Haslam, has gone on record to call the contract a “big swing and miss.” 

Plus, since Watson becomes a free agent after 2026, this is the last season they can get anything out of it. That is why Acho believes Watson should enter camp as QB1. For him, the door for Sanders could only open and even make sense if Watson ends up getting injured.

“And I don’t think Shedeur should get the opportunity outside of truly Deshaun getting hurt because nothing Shedeur does in a preseason game should move Shedeur ahead of Deshaun Watson,” Acho continued. “Now, if Deshaun sucks in the regular season, that’s different. But Shedeur shouldn’t take Deshaun’s spot in training camp.”

But if you tip the scales, then Watson still holds the edge between the two. He was efficient throughout the OTAs and minicamps, and even came out on top of Sanders in terms of statistics. So far this offseason, Watson has gone 90-of-133 and thrown 13 touchdowns against three picks. Shedeur, following behind, has gone 79-of-113, with five touchdowns against three picks. By these numbers alone, Watson has proven that he can score better, even if both QBs are almost on par with accuracy.

Now, naturally, with competition, there can come rivalry, but the veteran has gone on to refute those claims.

Deshaun Watson isn’t buying into a QB feud

While the fans and analysts might pit the situation as Watson versus Sanders, the veteran quarterback has taken a much different approach. Instead of taking Sanders as a threat, he made it clear that he is not afraid of a little competition.

“I’ve known his brother all the way back when he was at SMU,” Watson said. “We both have the opportunity to go out there and put out the best product for the team and let [head coach Todd] Monken and the organization choose who goes out there. And we’re going to support each other.”

That just pours cold water on any narrative that there is maybe a brewing rivalry inside the quarterback room. Monken, though, happens to be committed to giving both the quarterbacks opportunities. The Browns coach recently praised Sanders’ development.

“Doing a better job, I think he’s being more decisive,” Monken said. “It just feels like he’s making quicker decisions. The ball’s coming out of his hands.”

That leaves Cleveland heading into training camp with a genuine quarterback battle on its hands. Emmanuel Acho has made his pick, but that doesn’t settle anything because the Browns had a plan for Watson at the start of every season since 2022, and each one has collapsed before it could play out. Sanders has shown up, outworked the narrative, and closed the gap. Whether he deserves a fair shot or not is Acho’s argument, but Monken’s the one holding the reps at the end of the day.