At some point the “clean slate” thing stops sounding like good coaching and starts sounding like you’re trying REALLY hard not to know something. Todd Monken said he really hasn’t gone back and studied the old Deshaun Watson tape from Cleveland, aside from seeing some of it from afar when he was with Baltimore. I understand part of that. Different staff, different system, Watson missed all of 2025, and Monken wants to judge the player standing in front of him now. Fine.
But then.. did you watch the preseason? Because that is the part I can’t get around. Watson played two games in Monken’s offense and finished 16-of-27 for 162 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. The Buffalo game was the one that really made this look ridiculous: five completions on 12 attempts, an interception, four drives and no points. You do not need to fire up some 2023 cut-up to see that.
Monken’s philosophy is that he wants to go into this thinking every player on his roster is elite and let them prove him right. Great message for a locker room. But Watson is not some anonymous camp arm you’re meeting for the first time, and Monken already made the decision that matters. When he named Watson the Week 1 starter, Monken said he looked at the “full body of work” from the offseason, training camp, preseason games and joint practice and decided Watson gave Cleveland the best chance to move the ball and score.
The Deshaun Watson tape from this preseason is enough
That is why the clean-slate explanation loses me. If the current tape tells you Watson is your best quarterback, SAY THAT. If you truly believe he is going to look better once the real games start, say that too. But don’t act like there just isn’t enough information because you chose not to dig through years of old Browns film. We literally just watched him play in your offense.
At this point, “Hey, the front office is making me play him” would almost be easier to hear. Do I know that is actually happening? Nope. But it would honestly make more sense than treating Watson like some mystery box where nobody could possibly know what they’re getting. The world has watched this guy play football. Browns fans have REALLY watched this guy play football. Nobody needs another semester of film study to understand why people are skeptical.
And yes, there is obviously another reason the whole “clean slate” thing hits differently with Watson. He has denied wrongdoing, and two Texas grand juries declined to indict him, but the NFL’s disciplinary process still found violations of the league’s personal-conduct policy. Watson ultimately received an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine in 2022. Fans are not required to erase that history just because a new coach wants to evaluate the football player with fresh eyes.
Maybe Watson comes out against Jacksonville and looks completely different. Monken clearly believes in him enough to make him the starter, and if that belief turns out to be right, good for Cleveland. But this clean slate expires FAST once the regular season starts. If Watson looks anything like the quarterback Browns fans just watched in August, nobody is going to care that Monken skipped the old tape. They’re going to wonder why the stuff happening right in front of him wasn’t enough.
