Cleveland Browns Reveal Starting QB, See Their Playoff Odds

The Cleveland Browns have made a big decision after two weeks of the NFL preseason. The team has named its starting quarterback for Week 1.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, sources say that the Browns have decided to name veteran signal-caller Deshaun Watson the starter over second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

This decision follows a competition that lasted through training camp and two preseason games. Neither quarterback showed definitively that they deserved the job, but Watson had two factors in his favor despite missing 49 games the past four seasons. This included all of 2025.

Watson has played in 73 regular-season games and three playoff games in his career. Sanders has played in eight games after landing with the Browns as a fifth-round pick last year.

Sanders is also on a rookie contract worth $4,647,380. Watson is playing on a revised, fully-guaranteed $230 million deal. The money alone created expectations that he would win the starting job if healthy, provided that Sanders did not completely outperform him.

Watson winning the starting job is something that Polymarket traders predicted. They spent the entire offseason making wagers pointing in this direction.

These traders listed Watson as the favorite at 83% in May. The numbers dipped into the 60% range in June and July, but they moved back up into the 73% range in August.

Now that the Browns have made the move official, the number has jumped up to 98%. For comparison, Sanders’ chances of winning the job never went above 48%.

While the Browns have made a decision about the starting quarterback, that doesn’t mean that the Polymarket traders have more faith in the team to contend for the AFC North crown and secure a spot in the playoffs.

These traders list the Browns last among the four teams in the division. The Ravens are the favorite at 49% while the Bengals are second at 34%. The Steelers are third at 14%. The Browns are last at a mere 4%.

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