Thanksgiving is still a few months away, but there should be no man on the planet more grateful for a fresh start than Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski. Not only is he working with a more talented roster, he managed to escape the quarterback purgatory the Cleveland Browns are stuck in.
Anyone calling the Falcons' own QB competition an ideal situation is lying, but at least they have two signal-callers they can feel comfortable starting Week 1. Meanwhile, the Browns are embarking on the ugliest QB battle ever, as they have to decide between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.
Watson was the blockbuster trade pickup Cleveland made while Stefanski was still head coach--and his dramatic fall from grace is part of what got him fired. Luckily, he's been a complete nightmare during training camp, which is only validating the laundry list of red flags he saw in him over the years.
The Browns' QB drama is making Kevin Stefanski look better and better
The 30-year-old hasn't even looked like a starting-caliber quarterback in quite some time, and training camp has only solidified that belief. Across 12 summer practices with the Browns, Watson has thrown a staggering nine picks, so he's basically back in midseason form and it's only August.
Browns in team drills. Deshaun Watson with the 1s today.
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 11, 2026
Watson was intercepted by Terron Herring on a deep attempt to Blake Whiteheart during his first session. Tried to fit a pass to him on a corner route in double coverage but left it inside. Watson’s ninth pick in camp and…
The three-time Pro Bowler looks like a guy who's suffered a twice-torn Achilles--and his body certainly isn't going to recover to his pre-injury form. Frankly, if you labeled the Deshaun Watson trade as the single biggest mistake in franchise history, no one would blame you--and this says a lot given the clown show that is the Cleveland Browns.
It's this same move that makes Stefanski look better and better. As far as we know, the two-time Coach of the Year never wanted to trade for Deshaun Watson, but the deal was forced upon him by Browns GM Andrew Berry and owner Jimmy Haslam though he wanted to roll with Baker Mayfield.
Watson has not been the same player he was since leaving the Houston Texans, and the Browns have been paying the price. While you can keep playing the injury card, there's no excuses with this price tag.
The funniest part about is that it really doesn't feel like the Browns are really taking their battle seriously. Todd Monken has been inconsistent with the splitting of reps between Watson and Sanders, and his QB1 status is one of the NFL's worst-kept secrets. That's an atrocity considering Haslam chose him over the coach who brought Cleveland their first playoff win in 25 years.
The only reason the Browns are sticking with an objectively horrible quarterback is because of the amount they have invested in him. When they traded for him, he was signed to a fully-guaranteed, $230 million extension that they're in the final year of--and they're still on the hookd for $41 million.
Kevin Stefanski knew from the start that this move was gonna blow up in the Browns' face, but nobody listened. Cleveland's QB drama should make him lucky to be with the Falcons, and that's because for all of the faults Penix and Tua have, they're both miles better than the PR nightmare that is Deshaun Watson.
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