The Browns have split first-team reps on the quarterback position this spring, with recent head coach Todd Monken preferring to have a clearly-defined starter in place by the tip of June’s minicamp. As a substitute, the competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders is about to proceed.
“I’m not going to call a No. 1,” Monken said on Tuesday (via Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot) when speaking in regards to the timeline for a choice. “I shouldn’t say that. Likelihood is I won’t. Now, once we get to the autumn, we’ll must dissect the reps how we see fit. I just don’t see it after the best way Shedeur’s played and the best way Deshaun’s played. They each played well enough to earn out the proper to compete to start out.”
Barring a surprise turnaround in the following day or two, Cleveland’s minicamp – and thus all spring offseason work – will wrap up with none clarity on the QB spot. Sanders took over first-team duties late in his rookie season, but Watson has managed to get well from the pair of Achilles tears which kept him sidelined through the 2025 campaign. Each passers face the potential of a high draft investment next April, but for now attention will probably be focused on their performances in camp.
Watson is on the books for another season as things stand, together with his most up-to-date restructure organising a widely expected post-June 1 release in 2027. Nonetheless, the much-maligned trade acquisition is open to staying in Cleveland beyond this season. Watson, who will turn 31 early in the approaching campaign, has totaled just 19 appearances over the course of his Browns tenure.
Sanders was initially seen as the favourite with respect to the Browns’ QB1 gig in 2027. Watson has, nevertheless, more recently pulled into the lead. Questions on the involvement of ownership on this front have dated back to the blockbuster swap (and fully guaranteed extension) that brought Watson into the fold, and they’re going to little question proceed if the ex-Houston Pro Bowler finds himself atop the depth chart in Week 1.
Sanders fell to the fifth round of last 12 months’s draft and didn’t take any first-team reps during training camp as Cleveland sorted through a logjam of passers. The trades sending Kenny Pickett, after which Joe Flacco, out of the organization led to a transient starting stint for fellow 2025 draftee Dillon Gabriel. That was followed by Sanders closing out the season with seven starts. The 24-year-old has drawn praise from Monken and Co. thus far, and his rookie contract runs through 2028.
Last week’s Myles Garrett trade added further to Cleveland’s draft capital in 2027 and beyond. Whether or not a Day 1 QB selection is pursued next April will certainly be influenced largely by the play of Watson and Sanders, however the pecking order between those two won’t be settled until the summer.