DESHAUN WATSON -- WHO has been out of the public eye for the past 19 months -- was the first quarterback to take part in individual drills when the Cleveland Browns hit the practice field April 21 for Day 1 of their three-day voluntary minicamp. The 30-year-old faked a toss to his right and threw a pass to a staffer about 20 yards downfield.
Watson repeated the rep before ceding to Shedeur Sanders , who followed him in completing the drill. Dillon Gabriel rounded out the group.
Watson and Sanders split the first-team reps in team drills, marking the first snapshot of a quarterback competition centering squarely on the two players -- and a reminder of the crossroads Cleveland faces in its ongoing search for a franchise quarterback. That Watson is even here qualifies as a mild surprise.
A year ago, it appeared Watson had played his final snap in Cleveland -- and possibly the NFL. He was recovering from two tears to his right Achilles and Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam, speaking at the league meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, labeled his team's 2022 blockbuster trade for Watson a "big swing-and-miss." Watson sat out the 2025 season as he continued his rehab.
Gabriel, the second of the team's third-round picks in 2025, started six games, and Sanders, a fifth-round pick last year, started seven games. With the rookies earning a combined 4-9 record and each posting a QBR that would have ranked last among qualified players, Cleveland is still searching for answers for its decades-long quarterback question.
With Watson healthy and entering the final year of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract, the veteran is getting what amounts to a clean slate on the field with new coach Todd Monken. Both sides are open-minded about what the future holds for what has been a disappointing four-year run with Watson in Cleveland.
Now highly motivated and playing in an offense that caters to his strengths, Watson has a chance to affect one of the most controversial trades in NFL history with a few steps: Win the starting quarterback job, stay healthy and on the field, provide steady play in leading the offense, and help a franchise that has drafted three quarterbacks in the past two years -- including 2026 sixth-round rookie Taylen Green . "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 him successful," Haslam said at the league meetings in Phoenix two months ago.
"So Deshaun has a great chance to do that now." SINCE THE BROWNS traded three first-round picks and three other draft selections to the Houston Texans for Watson in March 2022 and subsequently gave him a five-year, $230 million contract -- then an NFL record for guarantees on a single contract by $80 million -- Watson has played in only 19 games because of suspension and injuries. Watson began his tenure in Cleveland by serving an 11-game suspension and paying a $5 million fine after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions.
Two Texas grand juries declined to pursue criminal charges against Watson a week before his trade to Cleveland, but he served his suspension and completed a treatment program after the NFL and the NFL Players Association reached a settlement in August 2022 on his disciplinary matter. Watson went 3-3 as a starter in the Browns' final six games of the 2022 season but showed rust (40.4 QBR) as he played his way back into form after more than a year away from the game.
He then missed the final nine games of the 2023 season, including Cleveland's wild-card loss to the Texans, after undergoing season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder. A right Achilles tendon tear on Oct.
20, 2024, sidelined Watson for the remainder of the season and all of the 2025 season after he tore the Achilles again and underwent a second surgery in January 2025 . Watson was cleared a couple of weeks before the Browns opened his 21-day practice PUP window on Dec.
3, but the team maintained a cautious approach with his rehab, according to a league source. A source close to Watson said sitting out last season was "the best thing that could've happened to him.
He wasn't rushed back onto the field, and he had time to reflect on how he can get the best out of this year, and he's excited." Since joining Cleveland four years ago, Watson has completed 61.2% of his passes and has thrown 19 touchdown passes to 12 interceptions