As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare to take on the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, Deshaun Watson’s job security is far from stable. The Buccaneers could deliver the final blow to his starting job in Cleveland.
Watson narrowly won Cleveland’s quarterback competition over Shedeur Sanders this offseason, but the veteran is on a short leash. He’s coming off a poor performance in the season opener, in which the Browns lost 34-10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Watson threw an opening-drive interception and was sacked five times in the loss.
It’s only the second game of the season, but Watson is fighting for his starting job on Sunday against the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay’s defense has a chance to stick a fork in him and force the Browns to make a quarterback change.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers could deliver the final blow to Deshaun Watson’s Cleveland Browns tenure
If the Browns fall to 0-2 and Watson struggles against Tampa Bay, it sure seems as if he’ll be benched before Cleveland’s home opener in Week 3.
"It has nothing to do about the performance. It's a little bit personal than that. It's a disrespectful thing."
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 22, 2026
"Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles. And that same fan base cheered when I got hurt."
- Deshaun Watson on the boos from fans pic.twitter.com/asP4ejV7fx
Watson isn’t exactly a fan favorite in Cleveland. He has a rocky relationship with Browns fans, and the home crowd even cheered when he went down with a season-ending injury in 2024.
“I definitely think that Mayfield and the Bucs could be the team that finally ends the Deshaun Watson era in Cleveland,” said Ryan O’Leary, who covers the Browns for Dawg Pound Daily.
“Watson looked bad in the preseason, and his Week 1 performance against Jacksonville was brutal. If he puts up another stinker in Tampa Bay, there’s no way the Browns can send Watson on the field for the Week 3 home opener against Carolina. That would be an ugly scene.”
There’s also another interesting layer to Watson’s situation given how the Browns acquired him. Cleveland pursued Watson while Baker Mayfield was still on the roster, leading to an ugly divorce between Mayfield and the Browns.
Five seasons later, Mayfield has found a home as the franchise quarterback of the Buccaneers, while Watson is 9-11 as the Browns starter and is barely hanging onto his job. Cleveland hasn’t had a quarterback as good as Mayfield since he left ahead of the 2022 season, and they’d kill for a franchise quarterback of his caliber.
It would be poetic justice for Mayfield's Bucs to deliver the knockout punch to Watson’s starting job and remind the Browns what a mistake they made pushing him out the door.
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