Deshaun Watson is healthy again and fighting Shedeur Sanders for the Browns’ starting job in the final season of his $230 million contract. (Image via Getty)Deshaun Watson’s $230 million Cleveland Browns tenure has reached another pressure point.Shedeur Sanders will start Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills as Cleveland continues its quarterback competition. Watson started the opener against Chicago, but head coach Todd Monken has not named a Week 1 starter. ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi reported that a decision is looming, making the next few practices and Saturday’s game increasingly important for both quarterbacks.Can Shedeur Sanders change the Browns’ QB race before Todd Monken makes his decision?Monken has publicly kept the competition open. Watson started Cleveland’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bears and completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards. Sanders followed in the third quarter and finished 6 of 11 for 79 yards with one interception.Now, Cleveland is reversing the order.Sanders will start against Buffalo on Aug. 22 after the Browns split first-team work between the two quarterbacks during the week. Monken said Sunday that Sanders deserved the same opportunity Watson received in the opener.“Again, I did feel going into last game that it was relatively close in terms of both having an opportunity at the starting position, so it would be unfair to not go into the next game and give Shedeur that same opportunity,” Monken said, according to the Browns’ official website.Oyefusi reported for ESPN that Monken has not set a public deadline for choosing his starter. However, the coach has discussed using Cleveland’s preseason finale against the New England Patriots as a dress rehearsal. That could make the Buffalo game one of Sanders’ final major opportunities to strengthen his case before Cleveland settles on QB1.Athlon Sports’ Daniel Dobish went further Thursday, describing Sanders as facing an uphill climb against Watson and presenting the Buffalo start as potentially his last major chance to change the direction of the competition.There is also a massive difference in what Cleveland has invested in the two quarterbacks.Sanders is playing on his rookie contract. Watson enters the final season of the fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal Cleveland gave him after acquiring him from the Houston Texans in 2022. His 2026 cap number is approximately $40.96 million, according to Over The Cap.Money does not guarantee Watson the starting job, and Monken has not said it will influence his decision. It does explain why every stage of this competition carries additional weight.Cleveland traded three first-round picks and three additional selections for Watson before handing him a record-setting guaranteed contract. Four years later, the Browns are still deciding whether he should open the season behind center.That is how a quarterback who once led the NFL in passing arrived at a preseason competition with a former fifth-round pick.Can Deshaun Watson beat Shedeur Sanders and rescue his final season in Cleveland?Injuries have taken away most of Watson’s opportunities to change the story.He played six games after serving his suspension in 2022 and another six in 2023. His 2023 season ended after he suffered a glenoid fracture in his throwing shoulder and underwent surgery.Watson returned in 2024 and started seven games. He threw for 1,148 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions before tearing his right Achilles against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20.His recovery then suffered another setback. Watson ruptured the Achilles again and underwent a second operation, eventually missing the entire 2025 season.By June, Watson said he was fully healthy for the first time since early in the 2023 season.“I’m trying to play a full season. I’m just trying to be healthy so I can play all 17-plus games,” Watson told reporters, according to NFL.com’s Nick Shook.New Browns head coach Todd Monken has given him that opportunity, but not the old job security.Watson and Sanders have competed throughout the offseason and training camp. Watson started Cleveland’s first preseason game against the Chicago Bears on Aug. 15 and completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards. He did not throw a touchdown or interception and lost a fumble on a strip-sack.Sanders completed six of 11 passes for 79 yards with one interception. The Browns lost 34-10.The competition now moves to Saturday.Sanders will start against Buffalo, while Watson is expected to enter later in the game. NFL.com reported Thursday that Watson appeared to hold the lead in the race entering the matchup.Watson knows what is at stake.“I just want to prove I'm capable of being the starter,” he said Thursday, according to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.The $230 million deal once made Watson Cleveland’s unquestioned quarterback. It cannot do that anymore.For the first time in his Browns career, Watson has to win the job.How did Deshaun Watson become an NFL star?The Houston Texans selected Watson with the No. 12 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft after his career at Clemson. He quickly became one of the league’s most productive young quarterbacks.Watson made three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2018 through 2020. His best statistical season came in 2020, when he completed 70.2% of his passes for a league-high 4,823 yards. He added 33 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a 112.4 passer rating.Houston finished 4-12 that season, but Watson’s individual production placed him among the NFL’s top quarterbacks. He had thrown 104 touchdown passes in his first four seasons and had already recorded two playoff victories.That 2020 season remains central to Watson’s story. It established the level Cleveland believed it was acquiring. It also created a standard Watson has not approached since leaving Houston.Why did Deshaun Watson stop playing for the Houston Texans?Watson requested a trade from Houston in January 2021 following disagreements over the organization’s direction. He did not play during the 2021 season.Beginning in March 2021, more than two dozen women filed civil lawsuits accusing Watson of sexual misconduct during massage appointments. Watson denied wrongdoing. Two Texas grand juries later declined to indict him on criminal complaints.The NFL and NFL Players Association reached a disciplinary settlement in August 2022. The league suspended Watson for 11 games, fined him $5 million and required him to undergo evaluation and treatment for violating the personal conduct policy.Most of the civil lawsuits were resolved through settlements or dismissals. The final two known cases were dismissed in February 2026, according to court records reviewed by The Associated Press. One had been settled confidentially. Watson continued to deny the allegations, and no related civil cases were believed to remain pending.What did the Browns trade for Deshaun Watson?The Browns acquired Watson from the Texans in March 2022. Cleveland sent Houston three first-round picks and three additional draft selections before giving Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.The deal carried an enormous cost. Cleveland committed record guaranteed money to a quarterback who had not played since the end of the 2020 season and still faced NFL discipline.Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam later called the move a “big swing-and-miss,” according to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi and Jeremy Fowler. Watson enters 2026 in the final year of the contract and is owed $46 million.The trade was designed to end Cleveland’s long-running search for a franchise quarterback. Instead, Watson has played 19 regular-season games for the Browns across four years.He has completed 61.2% of his passes in Cleveland, producing 3,365 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His passer rating has remained below 85 in each of his three active seasons with the team.Why are the Browns giving Deshaun Watson another chance?Cleveland has a new head coach and another unresolved quarterback competition.The Browns hired Todd Monken after firing Kevin Stefanski. Monken previously worked as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator and ran an offense built around Lamar Jackson’s mobility, shotgun concepts and ability to create outside the original play design.Watson spent much of his Houston career operating from spread formations. Monken’s system may offer a cleaner fit than the offense Watson played in during his first three active seasons with Cleveland.The Browns also lack an established replacement. Sanders, a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, started the final seven games of his rookie season. Dillon Gabriel also received six starts, while Cleveland added Taylen Green in the sixth round of the 2026 draft.Monken treated the position as an open competition during the offseason program. Watson and Sanders alternated first-team work during organized team activities and mandatory minicamp. Neither player separated enough for Monken to name a starter before training camp.“I think both have earned the opportunity to continue to compete once we put the pads on,” Monken said in June.Cleveland’s decision also carries a financial reality. The Browns must pay Watson regardless of his place on the depth chart. Starting him would only make sense if Monken believes he gives Cleveland its best chance to win.