Bitonio Predicts Watson Gets Browns QB1 Nod Over Sanders

Joel Bitonio spent years protecting quarterbacks in the Cleveland Browns' backfield, one of the franchise's most reliable offensive linemen before hanging up his cleats. Now retired, he's watching from the outside as the team navigates one of its most consequential decisions of the offseason: who will take the first snap at quarterback when the 2026 season begins—Deshaun Watson or rookie Shedeur Sanders.

Bitonio was candid about his vantage point when he called into 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. He doesn't have a seat in the coaching meetings anymore, he said. He's not at the team's organized team activities. He's a fan now, same as anyone else, getting his information the way the rest of us do—from social media, from what leaks out, from the logic of the situation. But there's a wink in that disclaimer. Bitonio blocked for both Watson and Sanders at the professional level. He knows their games, their temperaments, their capabilities in ways most observers never will. So when he offered his read on how this competition will shake out, it carried weight.

His prediction: Watson gets the nod. The reasoning is straightforward, even if the circumstances surrounding it are complicated. Watson is 30 years old and in the final year of a five-year, $230 million contract—a staggering commitment that represents both an anchor and a justification. The Browns have invested heavily in him. They might as well see what they have. Is he healthy? Is his confidence intact? Those are questions that need answering, and they can only be answered on the field, in games that matter.

The wrinkle is Watson's injury history. He hasn't thrown a pass since October 2024, sidelined by two surgeries on his Achilles tendon—an injury that has ended or severely derailed many careers. His comeback attempt is, by any measure, a long shot. But Bitonio sees a strategic logic in giving Watson the first opportunity. If he plays well, the Browns win games and justify their investment. If he struggles, they have Sanders waiting in the wings, a young quarterback with his entire career ahead of him. That structure, Bitonio suggested, might actually be gentler on Sanders than throwing him into a Week 1 starting role with everything on the line.

"If it doesn't go well, you have Shedeur and maybe there is less pressure on Shedeur when he is coming in not having to start the season winning a competition," Bitonio said. He acknowledged the counterargument too—that Sanders could dominate in the preseason and force the team's hand, that the future might demand the time be now. But from his perspective, the safer play is Watson first, Sanders as the fallback.

Head coach Todd Monken hasn't tipped his hand yet. He'd hoped to name a starter by the end of mandatory minicamp. That deadline has passed without a decision. As training camp opens, Monken plans to rotate both quarterbacks through the early sessions, keeping his options open as long as possible. The pads won't go on until the second week of camp, which means the most revealing moments—the ones where you see how a quarterback handles contact and pressure—are still weeks away.

What happens next will unfold in real time, visible to everyone. Watson's health will either hold or it won't. Sanders will either flash the kind of talent that makes the team reconsider, or he'll look like a rookie learning on the job. Bitonio's prediction may prove prescient, or it may be upended by something no one saw coming. For now, it's the most informed guess anyone outside the building has offered—and it carries the weight of someone who knows both men and the game they play.