Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson? Browns coach wants early clarity on starting QB
New Browns coach Todd Monken said it's been 'refreshing' to work with Shedeur Sanders, but a healthy Deshaun Watson will also compete to be QB1.
PHOENIX – Who will start at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns this year? It’s a question that’s become an annual tradition for nearly three decades. The Browns have had 42 different starting quarterbacks since 1999.
The answer to the Browns’ quarterback question is to be determined at this point. Go figure . New Browns coach Todd Monken would like to gain some clarity on his QB room within the next few months.
“You'd love to be able to come out of the spring with a depth chart,” Monken said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings. “That doesn't mean there's still not competition, but I do think you have to narrow the reps, or at least balance up the reps of who you anticipate has come out of the spring, certainly in a position to be a starter. ” Deshaun Watson is healthy after missing all of 2025 because a season-ending Achilles injury in October of 2024.
Dillon Gabriel started six games last year but lost his starting spot to Shedeur Sanders, who finished the year as QB1, and even had a controversial Pro Bowl invitation . None of the three quarterbacks vying for the starting spot can boast recent game film that warrants any assurance of the QB1 position, and the Browns could also draft a quarterback early in this year. Cleveland currently owns two first-round picks.