Todd Monken compliments Shedeur Sanders' 'elite playmaking ability,' says Browns will have open QB competition
The Browns have Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel under contract in 2026
New Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken complimented Shedeur Sanders for his "elite playmaking ability" on Wednesday at the NFL combine, but said he expects to have an open quarterback competition that gets narrowed down as the 2026 regular season approaches.
"Sure he can," Monken said about the possibility of Sanders becoming Cleveland's starter. "I think what you see is elite playmaking ability. That's in him. You've seen it. We've seen it. You saw it in college. You saw it on tape last year. Sure, there's a ways to go, but what rookie isn't? I mean, what first-year player doesn't have a long way to go? So I'm excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players."
The Browns also have Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel under contract for 2026. Monken anticipates having an "open competition" for the starting job between those three. And while he'd like to have his starter figured out by training camp, that may not be the case.
"I don't know why it wouldn't be an open competition, and I don't mean that harshly, but I don't think there's enough on film over the last couple years, one way or the other, to say, 'Boy, we have a starter at quarterback' yet, whether internally or externally," Monken said.
The Browns started three quarterbacks -- Joe Flacco, Gabriel and Sanders -- in 2025. Watson did not play at all in 2025; he tore his Achilles midway through the 2024 season and then tore it again a few months later. The Browns traded three first-round picks to the Houston Texans in March 2022 and then gave Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract. The NFL suspended Watson for the first 11 games of the 2022 season in the wake of 20-plus lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct. Ever since, Watson has played poorly and struggled with injuries.
Sanders, a fifth-round pick, started Cleveland's final seven games last season, taking over after his fellow rookie, Gabriel, suffered a concussion in Week 11. Sanders completed 57% of his passes for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also ran for 169 yards and a touchdown and took 23 sacks.
Among 43 players with at least 150 dropbacks in 2025, Sanders finished 42nd in touchdown-to-interception rate, 42nd in net yards per pass attempt and 42nd in passer rating. Despite the unkind numbers, Sanders managed to show off some of the playmaking Monken described. Sanders' 11.7 yards per completion was the 10th-highest among that same sample of 43 quarterbacks.
The Browns finished 5-12 and fired coach Kevin Stefanski after the season. Monken, who was previously Lamar Jackson's offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, takes over a team with lots of defensive talent -- led by Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger -- but in dire need of upgrades across the board offensively.
"I think the biggest thing that we want to see from Shedeur is just continued growth," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said Tuesday. "I think he grew a lot from start one to start seven. I think certainly playing more efficiently, not putting the ball in harm's way as much would be important while maintaining the ability to produce out of structure and generate explosive plays.
"You're not going to see all of that in the upcoming months because we're not on the field. So the biggest thing that he can do is learn the new offense, get in with the coaching staff once our offseason program starts, continue to work on his body physically and then make strides when we actually get on the grass."
