Team news: Cleveland Browns

Browns RB Dylan Sampson is expected to miss significant time due to the knee injury suffered Sunday in Jacksonville, per sources.

Sampson was spotted on crutches after the game.

Related players: Quinshon Judkins, Raheim Sanders, Michael Burton, Jaleel McLaughlin

Sampson was supposed to see some time in the passing game and get work behind Judkins. It's not an insignificant loss, but the Browns offense didn't look good in Week 1 so it would have been hard to trust Sampson even in the deepest of fantasy leagues. It looks like Sanders could move up to the RB2 role, and the team also just signed McLaughlin to the active roster, but again, the Browns are risky for fantasy lineups until we see more.

"I anticipate Deshaun Watson will be our starter," Week 2 for the Browns, per Todd Monken.

Related players: Shedeur Sanders

Watson finished with 205 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception. He also had at least one pass that could have been a second interception. Watson added 38 yards rushing on six carries. It was a rough start for Watson and the Browns were down 24-0 at the half. His lone TD pass came in the fourth quarter and by that point the score was 34-3. Watson seemed to be on a two-week trial before the Browns returned home in Week 3. One would think Watson will need to play very well in Week 2 to have any chance of playing in front of the home fans he has an unsteady relationship with in Week 3.

Browns are releasing veteran WR Cedric Tillman, per sources. Cleveland spent two early 2026 draft picks on wide receivers, and now Tillman is out.

Related Players: KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, Jerry Jeudy, Malachi Corley, Isaiah Bond, Tylan Wallace

Tillman’s departure confirms that Cleveland’s rookie receivers have passed him and further solidifies Concepcion and Boston near the top of the depth chart. It also improves the roster outlook for fringe options such as Bond, Corley and Wallace. Tillman could attract interest elsewhere, but his next destination will determine whether he retains any deep-league value.

The news has leaked. The Browns will ride with Deshaun Watson for Week 1.

Related players: Shedeur Sanders

As the story pointed out, Saturday it seemed like the Browns could never put Watson in uniform again. Sunday the vibe changed when HC Todd Monken wasn’t troubled by the booing of Watson against the Bills, nor by Watson’s postgame remarks about his relationship with Browns fans. Monken hinted he may be willing to give Watson a two-week audition, since both games are on the road. If the Browns return home in Week 3 at 0-2, odds would be Sanders gets that start. Watson has some nice, young weapons to work with but he'll have to at least win one game in Jacksonville or Tampa Bay, and look the part, in order to play in front of the home fans in Week 3. For now, Watson is a lower-end QB2 because of his surrounding cast, but it's hard not to imagine the team turning to Sanders at some point sooner than later.

Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins, who left practice early yesterday with soft-tissue injury, going through individual drills.

Related players: RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman, Jaleel McLaughlin

Good news for Dobbins, who left early yesterday in practice after it was reported he suffered a soft tissue injury. It came out later Monday that Dobbins was expected to be "fine," but seeing him right back on the field today is a relief for owners and future owners.

Browns HC Todd Monken said Spencer Fano will start working with the 1s at left tackle and Denzel Boston will start working with the 1s at receiver starting today.

Related players: KC Concepcion, Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman

It seems to be a good sign that Boston could have a fantasy-relevant role on the Browns this year, alongside of top pick KC Concepcion. The positive press has been steady for both receivers and it looks like both will be in the mix, along with Jeudy, as the top WRs on the Browns. The negative, however, is still the QB situation, and that's likely to be the only thing holding back any of the Browns receivers. Both rookie WRs could make for nice depth pieces in your drafts this year, with the potential to climb your team's fantasy depth chart after a few weeks.

In the Cleveland quarterback competition between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, there could be a third candidate creeping up on the outside.

Dillon Gabriel, drafted two rounds before Sanders in 2025, is performing well enough to earn more chances to perform.

“I said it the other day, everybody’s competing, but you’re not guaranteed the same amount of reps,” coach Todd Monken told reporters on Monday. “So it’s up to the player to take advantage and maximize those reps, which I feel like Dillon has done. So we’ll see as we move forward, if that continues, we’ll continue to up his reps. He’s earned that. That’s what every player should expect, right? If they play well, you have to up the reps, or what’s the purpose of playing well?”

Watson and Sanders are certainly not locks to be the QB1 at this point, although Watson's salary may be a factor in the end. But the Browns have no other reason not to give the job to the best player. This will be a battle in camp to watch since the Browns are collecting some offensive talent to support whoever wins the job. At the very least, it's a wake-up call to Watson and Sanders.

Sources: Browns rookie WR KC Concepcion, who left practice today with a shoulder injury after a hard fall, did not suffer anything serious and the team is expecting him to be fine.

Good news for the rookie, who as the post added, has had a strong start to training camp so far.

Browns TE Harold Fannin Jr. suffered a groin injury during today’s practice, and the team wants to see how he feels this weekend before deciding whether he can play Sunday vs. the Steelers.

Browns also have ruled out TE David Njoku for Sunday’s game due to a knee injury.

Terrible news for Fannin managers, as he looked to be in a great spot against a Steelers defense ranking 28th in TE aFPA. Hopefully we get some clarity heading into Sunday, as he should be a locked-in volume-based, top-10 option if he's near 100%.

Browns RB Dylan Sampson returned to practice today after being sidelined with a hand injury.

Related Players: Trayveon Williams, Raheim Sanders

With Jerome Ford and now Quinshon Judkins sidelined, we could end up seeing a lot of run out of Sampson if he's cleared by the weekend. The offensive environment obviously isn't perfect, but he would very much be in play as a volume-based RB3 should he suit up.