​Deshaun Watson’s surgically repaired shoulder wasn’t meant to be a major storyline coming out of Browns minicamp. Yet after longtime Cleveland Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot suggested the quarterback’s arm appeared to “tail off” during offseason work, a local analyst sees the comment as pointing to a far bigger question about Cleveland’s quarterback future. “The fact that she’s even mentioning it means she saw something,” Mike Lucas said on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. “We get the preseason, where you can get hits. And then you look at his history with two Achilles tears, with an ACL tear back in Houston, with the unusual shoulder injury, there’s never been a precedent for this in the NFL. And you add all that together, and I’m thinking to myself, there’s not a chance in hell this guy is going to be healthy enough to survive an entire season, let alone maybe one or two games, if that’s the outcome.”
According to Cabot, Shedeur Sanders took first-team reps on the opening day of mandatory minicamp, while Watson took them on the second day. Based on her observations, she suspected that the quarterback “got the slightest bit of fatigue in his surgically repaired shoulder,” Cabot said on Orange and Brown Talk. The offseason had brought optimism for Watson, with improvements in his mobility seeming to bode well. Yet his Achilles injuries, suffered in the past two years, had already been a major concern, and now the shoulder issue appears to loom just as large.
The sight of a heavy throwing workload during this offseason’s camps may have pushed Watson’s shoulder fatigue to the fore, Cabot argued. After all, this is likely the first time he has carried such a load since undergoing surgery to repair the injured shoulder in 2023. Following minicamp, Cabot also noted that the veteran quarterback returned to the Browns’ facility with his private physiotherapist at the end of June.
Watson has long been the presumed frontrunner in the team’s QB1 competition. Yet with questions about the senior quarterback’s health surfacing, the conversation could tilt toward Sanders. “If we’re even having remote discussions about him showing shoulder fatigue in a situation where he should be the most fresh he is all season, then where are we going to be in September, after a game where this remade offensive line may or may not be able to protect him to the level that’s needed,” Lucas added. “There’s no way that ends well.”
For Cleveland, the situation remains delicate. The combination of a demanding throwing workload, a history of significant injuries, and the potential for Sanders to gain ground in the competition has created a narrative that could determine the team’s direction well beyond minicamp. As the season approaches, all eyes will remain on Watson’s shoulder, his durability, and the defense’s ability to adapt to whatever quarterback takes the field. If the fatigue signs persist, the questions about Watson’s long-term viability—and what that means for Cleveland’s quarterback future—will only grow louder.