Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken still doesn’t have a starting quarterback. He’s not sweating it.
Speaking on the Ryan Ripken Show, Monken made it clear he’s energized heading into his first training camp in Berea, even with Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel still separated by nothing more than a coach’s gut feeling.
“I believe our job obviously is to develop younger players, whether it’s Shedeur, whether it’s Deshaun, whether it’s Dillon — our quarterback situation — you gotta find a way to right that,” Monken said. “I do think Deshaun and Shedeur had really good springs. I really believe there’s no better time to be the head coach of the Browns. We’re young. Our guys love to work.”
That competition has increasingly narrowed to two names. Watson entered the offseason as the presumed favorite, but Sanders has closed the gap, according to ClutchPoints. Gabriel, meanwhile, has slipped to the outside of the conversation.
Watson Chasing a Fresh Start After a Lost Season
Watson didn’t play a single snap in 2025. A second Achilles surgery in January of that year wiped out his campaign entirely, and Monken hasn’t shied away from admitting the Browns’ 2022 trade for the quarterback — which cost Cleveland three first-round picks and a record-setting $230 million contract — has “not come to fruition.”
Still, Monken sees enough in Watson to make this a real battle rather than a formality. Six-time Pro Bowler Chad Johnson has gone further, predicting on the “Nightcap” podcast that Watson will open the season as the starter — with a catch. Johnson said Watson would have roughly six weeks to hold off Sanders before Cleveland would make a switch, a claim reported by ClutchPoints. That’s Johnson’s read on the situation, not a confirmed team plan, and Monken has not named a starter.
Watson has appeared in just 19 games across four seasons in Cleveland, a stretch also shaped by suspensions tied to off-field civil litigation.
Sanders’ Rookie Flashes Keep the Door Open
Sanders took over the Cleveland offense in Week 12 last season and started the final seven games. He finished with 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight total appearances — modest volume, but enough movement that a coaching staff on the record has called it a good spring.
| Quarterback | 2025 Starts | Yards | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shedeur Sanders | 7 | 1,400 | 7 | 10 |
| Deshaun Watson | 0 (injured, missed season) | — | — | — |
| Dillon Gabriel | 6 | — | 7 | 2 |
Sanders was named to the Pro Bowl as a replacement selection despite the modest numbers — a nod to the flashes he showed in a limited sample, even as the raw stat line stayed unremarkable.
Why Monken Traded Myles Garrett — And Why He’s Not Losing Sleep Over It
Monken also addressed the offseason’s biggest shake-up: Cleveland’s decision to send Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, to the Los Angeles Rams. The Browns received pass rusher Jared Verse along with a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder and a 2029 third-rounder in the deal, which was announced by both teams on June 1.
Monken framed the move as a long-view decision rather than a short-term sacrifice.
“People ask all the time, as an older coach, why would you trade Myles Garrett? The guy would want to win this year,” Monken said. “I’m like, ‘No, really, my job ought to be is (to make sure) 20 years from now, this was the start of where teams are saying, “Why aren’t we more like the Browns?”‘”
It’s a notable stance from someone who once served on Cleveland’s staff. Monken was the Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2019 under Freddie Kitchens before later runs at Georgia and Baltimore.
The Bigger Picture
Cleveland has reached the playoffs just twice in the last 23 years, and the franchise hasn’t landed on a long-term answer at quarterback since Bernie Kosar in the 1980s. That backdrop is part of why Monken’s tone — patient, almost upbeat about the uncertainty — stands out. He’s not promising a starter by a specific date. He’s promising a competition that plays out through camp, with the winner earning it rather than being handed it.
Training camp opens July 29 in Berea, and padded practices will be the first real test of whether Sanders’ spring momentum holds up against Watson’s experience.
