Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson Praised by Browns GM amid QB Battle in Training Camp

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry says Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders still have a "long way to go" in their competition to be named QB1.

"Both those guys, and really that entire room, deserves a lot of credit for putting together a really good offseason program, really working hard with the new staff, learning the offense," Berry told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Marc Ross.

"The realistic of it is, we're only three days into training camp. So we've got a long way to go before any decisions are made."

Berry said the decision as to which quarterback will end up on top of the depth chart, where Watson and Sanders are joined by Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green, will ultimately be left up to coach Todd Monken and his staff.

"We'll have a starter by Week 1... it'll be performance based, and we're looking to a really good competition over the next several weeks," Berry said.

Berry added the Browns also plan to "look at the whole body of work" when evaluating the quarterback battle.

Sanders started seven games and led the Browns to three wins during a rookie 2026 campaign in which he completed 56.6 percent of his passes with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Watson hasn't played since 2024 and has struggled with injury and inconsistency throughout his three-season tenure with the Cleveland Browns. He previously recorded three Pro Bowl seasons from 2018 to 2020 with the Houston Texans.

The Browns quarterback battle could potentially stretch into the preseason, which begins Aug. 15 with a road game against the Chicago Bears. Monken and Berry will hope to have a starter in place by the time the regular season kicks off Sept. 13 at the Jacksonville Jaguars.