Fantasy Football Impact of Deshaun Watson Winning Browns’ QB Job, and More Notable News

We have more NFL news that impacts fantasy football to discuss today. 

Let's get right into things! Here's the first story we did today. Keep checking back to FantasySP for fantasy football coverage all season long!

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Watson Earns Browns' QB Job

The biggest news on Monday was Deshaun Watson winning the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback job. He was battling Shedeur Sanders for that role.

Watson is 30 years old (nearly 31) and is entering his eighth NFL season, though he missed two seasons since he made his debut in 2017. He last played in 2024, getting in seven starts. Watson hasn't made more than seven starts in any of his three seasons since joining the Browns.

Early in his career, Watson was viewed as a very good quarterback, and fantasy football QB too. His best season was in 202 with Houston - he threw for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions across 16 games, while rushing for 444 yards and three scores over 90 attempts.

Most don't expect Watson to get back to that level of play ever, but he's at least being given a chance to revive his career to start the 2026 campaign. 

Sanders is 24 years old and showed some flashes of promise during his rookie year in 2025. Over eight games (seven starts), Sanders threw for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions - he rushed for 169 yards and a score over 21 attempts.

Many expected Sanders to win the starting role, but the Browns instead are going with Watson, at least to start the year. It's worth noting that the Browns' first two games in the regular season are on the road.

If Watson were to struggle, Cleveland could make a QB change before week 3, which is the team's first home game. That's just speculation, but my point is that I don't believe Watson is locked into a starting role for the whole season.

Watson is just a deep-league fantasy asset to kick off this coming season. He could be streamed in standard leagues in the right matchups, but I wouldn't trust him against the Jaguars (week 1) or Buccaneers (week 2) while running that Browns' offense.

The unit lacks playmakers and is very young, so I didn't see either QB being a very good fantasy asset. We'll see if one of them can prove us wrong in 2026.

If any Cleveland QB were to be drafted in redraft leagues this season, it should be Watson. I'd just view him as a depth option for now, and hopefully you don't ever have to start him. Sanders is still worth holding in dynasty/keeper leagues, and I think he'll be back in a starting role before 2026 is over.

I don't see this QB decision impacting any offensive players for Cleveland. Quinshon Judkins (ADP of 46), Harold Fannin (71.25), KC Concepcion (120.5) and Denzel Boston (150.75) are the top options right now. We'll see if their ADPs go up or down now that we know who the starting QB is.

Patriots, Texans Finalize Trade

The Houston Texans have been busy adding wide receivers since losing Jayden Higgins to a season-ending injury at the end of last week. They acquired Kayshon Boutte from the New England Patriots in a trade. New England gets safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round pick in return.

Boutte is just 24 years old and is approaching his fourth season in the NFL. He has played 15 and 14 games over the past two seasons, and gone for at least 550 yards and three touchdowns in each season.

Boutte has a great chance to start for Houston, which has Nico Collins, but not many other proven receivers around. Jaylin Noel is the other projected starter, with Xavier Hutchinson being kicked to a reserve role after the trade. Tank Dell, rookie Lewis Bond, Jared Wayne, Justin Watson, Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones are other wideout options for now.

Boutte should open the season as a decent deep-league fantasy asset, with the chance to work into standard leagues if he takes off with his new team - I wouldn't hold my breath on that, you never know though.

New England had an excess of wideouts, so trading Boutte away makes sense. A.J. Brown will lead the wideout room after being traded there this offseason.

Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas are the other two projected starting wide receivers, with Kyle Williams, Mack Hollins and Efton Chism III as the backup options.

The trade doesn't impact the Patriots' wideouts all that much, but it allows the likes of Doubs, Douglas, Williams, Hollins or Chism to factor in a bit more.

The trade means more for Houston, where Boutte could factor in right away. It takes away potential production from Noel, Hutchinson, Dell, Bond and others, but shouldn't impact Collins much.

Reed is just a backup safety option for New England. He's projected to be behind Kevin Byard on the depth chart, so an injury could thrust him into a larger role, but otherwise, I don't see Reed being a very big IDP option.

Saints Add a Kicker

How about some kicker news! The New Orleans Saints signed Daniel Carlson on Monday.

The 31-year-old has played 129 games over his eight-year NFL career. Carlson has made 86.9% of his field goals during the regular season, and is 95.7% on extra points.

Across 17 games last season with Las Vegas, Carlson was 22-of-27 on field goals and 21-of-22 on extra points. He made five field goals over 50 yards, which is the distance of three of his misses too.

Carlson should be the team's kicker when the regular season kicks off. He is a good kicker, but not on the best team, but he'll still be a fantasy asset, especially in the right matchups.

I view him as a deep-league fantasy asset right now, with room to work into standard leagues, whether that be as a streaming asset, or because of good results this coming year.