Cleveland Browns DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles) has been throwing to receivers Jerry Jeudy and David Bell at the team's facility and has been out of his walking boot for several weeks, a league source told The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. However, Watson is not part of the offseason QB competition among Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. The 29-year-old Watson had a second surgery on his Achilles back on Jan. 9 and is not expected to be ready to play at the start of the 2025 season this fall. In fact, he's widely expected to miss all of the 2025 campaign, with many believing that he's already played his last game for the Browns. Still, Watson has made "excellent progress" in his recovery from a torn right Achilles that he suffered last season. But given his injury and his off-field drama, Watson's NFL future remains very murky.

The Cleveland Browns have signed rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders to a four-year contract worth $4.6 million. NFL Insider Jordan Schultz reported the news. Much has been made about the Colorado product's epic draft-day slide, and now it's up to him to prove the league wrong. Whether he's an NFL-caliber quarterback remains to be seen, but he's undoubtedly motivated to start his climb up Cleveland's quarterback depth chart. Accuracy is Sanders' superpower, but he needs to play more within the confines of his game, particularly given his average athleticism. The good news is that the competition to head the Browns' offense is mostly wide open. Veteran Joe Flacco stands to get the first crack at the starting job unless Kenny Pickett can beat him out in training camp. From there, it's Sanders and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, with Deshaun Watson (Achilles) unlikely to play in 2025.

Former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders went from being a projected first-round pick in this year's NFL draft to not being taken until No. 144 overall in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. The Browns passed on Sanders six times before taking him with their seventh pick. However, head coach Kevin Stefanski is confident Sanders can be a successful NFL QB. "We're getting a guy that really is not so concerned about where he landed in this draft, but he is willing to put in the work and that's what we're going to do," Stefanski said. The 23-year-old has a long ways to go to work his way up a QB depth chart in Cleveland that includes Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson (Achilles), Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. He's accurate but has average arm strength, and his athleticism doesn't jump off the page. NFL teams believe he's a backup, at best. Time will tell if Sanders can prove them wrong.