Shedeur Sanders will start the 2026 NFL regular season on the bench.
The Cleveland Browns announced on Monday that Deshaun Watson will open the year as the team’s starting quarterback. Watson will be QB1 when the Browns open their season in Jacksonville in Week 1. The Browns open the year against the Jaguars and the Buccaneers on the road.
As the Browns announced that Watson won the job, Sanders is facing criticism from fans online. How could Sanders lose a starting quarterback battle to a player who was getting booed by his own fans?
“How bad is Shedeur? If this was a 50/50, even a 60/40 split between the two, you have to play Sanders,” one NFL fan suggested.
“Like, how BAD is Shedeur Sanders,” one fan added.
“How bad is Shedeur if he can’t beat someone out who tore his Achilles twice???” one fan added.
Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images.
Sanders, actually, came to Watson’s defense after he was booed by Cleveland’s fans on Saturday.
“I do not appreciate that at all,” Sanders said of the boos. “Regardless of competition, we’re all human beings.”
“I don’t really do things to humans I wouldn’t want done to me,” he added.
“For all the fans, we appreciate y’all showing up and everything. However you feel about the situation with Deshaun, still, I think it’s more about a bigger purpose. Just respect. It’s just a respect thing, that I feel like should be there. Because we’re all out there trying to do our best. Trying to serve the franchise the best way possible. We’re going out there to win games. We’re doing everything we can do. So I don’t really appreciate that.”
Sanders could still get his chance
Sanders could get his chance soon enough. The Browns start with two road games. If Watson plays poorly in those road games, and the Browns start the year 0-2, it’s possible – maybe even likely – that Cleveland will go back to Sanders for the home opener in Week 3.
But, for now, Sanders has been relegated to backup quarterback duty to start the 2026 NFL regular season.
