Kyle Brandt says Deshaun Watson’s comments should have ended career

The NFL world was shocked, but not surprised on Monday when Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken announced that Deshaun Watson would be the team’s starting quarterback in Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The shock came from the fact that Watson had admonished Browns fans for booing him after another underwhelming preseason performance just two days earlier in a press conference that was widely ridiculed by fans and media alike. The lack of surprise came from the fact that this is the Cleveland Browns we’re talking about.

Still, the shock was there. Just an hour before it became clear that Watson had won the starting job, Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football argued that the press conference should have been the end of Watson’s career.

“Was that a career-ending press conference? I think it might have been,” Brandt said. “I would cut him. I would maybe deactivate him. Take your pick. You don’t want him as a backup, and I don’t think anybody on the team wants Deshaun Watson as the starter, including Deshaun. You don’t openly engage and antagonize the fan base after another crap performance a couple weeks before the opener if you actually want the starting job.”

Brandt called out Watson for saying the boos were “personal,” saying that his performance on the field had done plenty to earn the ire of the home fans. The calculus that the Browns front office made when they traded for Watson five years ago was that the awful PR hit the team would take would be worth it to finally fix the quarterback problem that has lingered over the franchise for decades. When Watson was a dud on the field, that calculus looked awful.

“If he wasn’t the alleged creepy massage guy, and he was throwing 35 touchdowns a year, never mind all of the off the field stuff for the Browns fans,” Brandt said. “They wouldn’t be booing, they would be buying. They’d be buying his jersey. Off the field it’s been terrible. On the field, it’s been terrible. No one wants this. No one wants Deshaun.”

Brandt ended his blistering monologue with a direct plea to new Browns coach Todd Monken.

“Todd Monken, I feel like you’re a good guy, and I feel like you’re a good football guy. There’s been so many times that the Browns have been unable to provide a good team — at least provide some good will. It might be your best version of a win right now. Are you honestly going to have the hutzpah and the balls to stand up there today and be like, ‘We’re going to go with Deshaun’? It’s absurd.”

Deshaun. That should be a career ending press conference. pic.twitter.com/nYFAJprE4d

— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) August 24, 2026

A little more than an hour after Brandt posted the clip to social media, Monken did just that.

Browns coach Todd Monken explains his decision to name Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback:

Monken said he took in the “full body of work … ultimately felt like … Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball, score points.” pic.twitter.com/VWmwjhxOuw

— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 24, 2026

Watson did his best to walk back his comments about Browns fans once the announcement had been made, but it’s safe to consider this toothpaste out of the tube.

One extremely telling fact was that Monken mentioned that he believed Watson gave the Browns the best chance to score points “on the road,” to start the year. Even he knows that Watson was only going to get booed louder by fans in Cleveland if they opened the season at home.

Instead, Browns fans will have to wait until Week 3 to make their feelings about Watson known once again.

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