The Cleveland Browns surprised many NFL fans and media members when they named Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback after a dismal preseason that included him blasting the team’s fans.
Now, Robert Griffin III claims sources told him the Browns made Watson the starting quarterback instead of Shedeur Sanders because they want him “Deshaun to play for his pay.” He also claims head coach Todd Monken didn’t make the decision to make Watson QB1.
The Cleveland Browns signed Deshaun Watson to a $230 million contract. So far, the quarterback has played in 19 games with a total of just 3,365 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
“Sources tell me Deshaun Watson WAS NOT Todd Monken’s choice as the starter and many in the building thought Shedeur Sanders was the right move for the team on and off the field after Watson attacked the fans,” Robert Griffin III wrote on X. “Browns want Deshaun to play for his pay. The fans deserve better.”
During his post-game press conference on Saturday, Watson blasted Browns fans because he felt their booing him was personal and not due to his play. Watson completed only five out of 12 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception while playing in the third quarter and some of the fourth against backups during Saturday’s game.
On Monday, Deshaun Watson was named the team’s starting quarterback for the Browns’ season opener against the Jaguars on Sept. 13. That same day, he semi-apologized for his negative remarks about the fans.
Robert Griffin III said the decision to start Deshaun Watson wasn’t made by the head coach
“I can tell you whose decision it wasn’t. It wasn’t Todd Monken’s. There’s no way in heck that it was Todd Monken’s decision, the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, to make the Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback,” Griffin said in a video attached to the X post.
“I’ve already said that I believe they all could have saved us a lot of time if it was going to be Deshaun Watson or nothing. The man literally took a bazooka to the fans’ face and basically said ‘eff you’ to all of them, and they still made him the starter the next day.”
Robert Griffin III shared why he feels this way, then said what he believes is the number one reason Deshaun Watson got the starting quarterback job in Cleveland.
“There are $230 million reasons why Deshaun Watson is the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns,” he said. “It’s his contract. Period. [Browns owner Jimmy] Haslam has already come out and said that it was a huge swing and a miss on Deshaun Watson. This off-season. Last year. Why is he starting?! Two-hundred-thirty million reasons.”
“Who do you think made the decision?” RG3 continued. “Because I believe it was the ownership group and the executive group that said, ‘He is gonna be our starter, and if he doesn’t do it, we’re gonna bring Shedeur in. Shedeur’s gonna play, and if Shedeur proves that he can be the guy, we won’t draft a quarterback next year. But if Shedeur doesn’t, then we’re gonna draft a quarterback next year.
“Because who in their right mind would make Deshaun Watson, after everything that’s happened, the starting quarterback going into next year? Nobody. Unless they win the Super Bowl. And still probably not then.”