The Cleveland Browns officially wrapped up their quarterback competition on Monday morning, as they named Deshaun Watson their starter over Shedeur Sanders. While both guys are divisive players in their own right, there’s no doubt that the decision to hand the keys to the offense over to Watson has turned heads.
Ever since arriving in Cleveland, Watson has been a mess both on and off the field, but that isn’t stopping the team from giving him one last shot at finding his footing. Unsurprisingly, reactions have been flying in ever since this news came to light, with one nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/major-prediction-dan-orlovsky/”>former NFL quarterback, Dan Orlovsky, going so far as to call on Browns fans to boycott the team’s games over their decision to start Watson.
Dan Orlovsky Urges Browns Fans to Boycott the Team’s Games
Dan Orlovsky on First Take after the Browns named Deshaun Watson their starting quarterback.
During his stint in Cleveland, Watson has become notorious for being arguably the worst acquisition of any team in the history of the NFL. The Browns gave up three first-round picks, one third-round pick, and two fourth-round picks in exchange for Watson, in addition to handing him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract extension before he even took the field for them.
How has Watson performed since then? Horribly, to say the least. While he’s missed a ton of time due to injuries and a lengthy suspension he received after facing dozens of sexual assault allegations, even when he’s been on the field, Watson has barely been a league-average quarterback. In four years, he’s played just 19 total games, completing 341 of 557 pass attempts for 3,365 yards and 19 touchdowns.
And yet, with no way out of his deal, head coach Todd Monken conducted a competition for the starting quarterback job between Watson and Sanders. Even with his meltdown (both on and off the field) in the team’s preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills, Watson still managed to win the job. In Orlovsky’s eyes, that’s a slap in the face to the Browns’ fanbase, and he urged the fans to not go to games, so long as the three-time Pro Bowler is starting under center.
“Browns fans should not go to games,” Orlovsky said on “First Take.” “Why would I go to this game? At some point, there has to be a tipping point … To watch that press conference and to hear him say ‘I get more love in road games,’ what would you expect the love to come from?”
Browns’ Deshaun Watson Decision Comes With a Catch
GettyDeshaun Watson is a starter once again.
Starting Watson makes sense in theory, because he’s going to be in town, so the Browns may as well see if they can get anything out of him. But just because he’s starting to begin the season doesn’t necessarily mean that will be true for the entire year. In fact, you can make an argument that Watson has the shortest leash of any starting quarterback in the league.
If Watson struggles, it will only be a matter of time until Sanders takes over as the starter under center. Should Sanders have been named the starter from the get-go? Possibly, but having him watch from the bench to begin the season will allow him to continue to develop behind the scenes. Naming Watson the starter is understandably an unpopular decision, but for the future of the franchise, it may just be the best move to help them down the line.
Former NFL Quarterback Puts Browns on Blast for Deshaun Watson Decision