The biggest question for the Browns is the identity of the starting quarterback. One of the men whose input will be relevant to the decision was asked for his take on whether Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders has taken the lead during offseason workouts.
“I don’t know that we have somebody who’s ahead,” offensive coordinator Travis Switzer told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re pleased with both their progress, and all the guys are doing a nice job.”
Switzer also was asked how he thinks the competition is going, at this point in the Cleveland OTAs.
“I think that both of those guys and really all of our guys are progressing very well,” Switzer said. “Very pleased in what we’ve seen in the growth. Like I said, a lot of is the familiarity with the system — getting a little more comfortable as we move on. But their progression, just in the short time that we’ve been so far is very encouraging, and we’re excited about that.”
Switzer was specifically asked what he has seen from Sanders.
“I’ll only speak to what I’ve seen over the last couple weeks, and his progress has been impressive,” Switzer said. “Just his ability to move through progressions. His feet are getting more urgent, and he’s ready to throw when he needs to more consistently. We can continue to grow there, but his progress has been impressive.”
At some point, one of them will be named the starter. The sooner that happens, the more reps he’ll have to prepare for Week 1.
That’s the challenge in every quarterback competition. At some point, it ends. The longer it takes to end it, the less time the winner has to get ready to play well enough to avoid being benched for the guy who finished in second place.
Browns Clips
The Browns announced a change to their cornerback group on Tuesday.
They have signed Tyron Herring to their 90-man roster. DeCarlos Nicholson was waived with an injury designation in a corresponding move.
Herring went undrafted out of Delaware last year. He signed with the Packers and failed to make the cut to 53 players in Green Bay. He spent time on their practice squad and on the Patriots’ practice squad over the course of the season.
Nicholson signed with the Browns after going undrafted out of USC this year.
The Browns signed two other undrafted rookie cornerbacks to compete for spots behind Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell this season.
Free agent defensive lineman Janarius Robinson visited with another team as he continues to look for a place to play in 2026.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that Robinson worked out for the Browns on Monday. Robinson worked out for the Patriots earlier this month as well.
Robinson spent last season with the Chiefs and had a sack in the preseason before landing on injured reserve with a foot injury that cost him the entire season.
Robinson had had 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 16 games for the Raiders in 2023 and 2024. He has also spent time with the Vikings and Eagles.
As it turns out, the Browns aren’t the Cleveland-based sports team having the most warped obsession with analytics.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, whose team trails the Knicks 3-0 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals, came up with an all-time glass-half-full justification for the Cavs’ struggles.
Via Matt Clapp of Awful Announcing, Atkinson claimed — with a straight face — that Cleveland is essentially winning.
“Analytically . . . we’re two out of three in the expected [score]. . . . We’ve won two out of the three,” Atkinson said.
The remark immediately flopped worse than SGA.
“I know you’re looking confused,” Atkinson said. “But if you believe in process and all that. . . . take that layer. . . .
“I think last night, it was, the expected score was like one point or two. Us shooting way below expected, them shooting way over. I know no one wants to hear that. I think you guys like hearing it. The general public . . . everyone’s outcome-based. Sure. I get that too.”
Yes, the general public is outcome-based. Because winning and losing is based on the outcome.
At a time when the Cavaliers face the nearly impossible task of digging out of a 3-0 hole, they need inspiration. They need confidence. Telling them to buck up because they’ve analytically won two of the three games that they lost surely won’t do the trick.
It would be nice if, in hindsight, this is the moment where blind reliance on analytics jumps the shark. Or, even better, when the shark eats it.
And then Atkinson can claim analytics actually ate the shark. If you believe in process.
Former Heisman winner and Browns first-rounder Johnny Manziel made his MMA debut on Saturday, against an influencer named Bob Menery.
Manziel won easily. Anyone who spent two minutes and sixteen seconds of their lives watching the fight lost.
It was, quite frankly, a Battle of Dad Bods. Two guys with limited skills in a fight that looked like something that broke out at the back end of a barbecue where both had consumed too much brisket and too much beer.
Manziel, a former pro athlete who outweighed Menery by (as Menery claimed after the fight) 30 pounds, seemed to stun Menery early with multiple kicks (including one that almost connected to Menery’s face) before taking Menery down and never letting him get up. Manziel eventually wailed away with blows to the head. At one point, Manziel seemed to be on the verge of deploying the time-honored “stop hitting yourself” technique.
Eventually, the referee stepped in and stopped the madness.
“I need a cigarette,” Manziel said after the fight.
After watching it, I need a Manhattan.
Manziel said his first MMA fight was likely his last one. That’s the best news of all.
The Browns hired Todd Monken as their new head coach on Jan. 28. Almost four months later, he has yet to meet the team’s best player.
Monken was asked at the team’s organized team activities whether he has had a “face-to-face with Garrett yet.”
“Myles?” Monken asked, before answering, “No.”
Garrett has stayed away from the Browns’ offseason program and has already lost $1 million for missing a mandatory minicamp last month. The team has another mandatory minicamp next month, which will cost Garrett another $107,911 if he misses.
The 2025 Defensive Player of the Year didn’t participate in the Browns’ voluntary offseason work last season before setting the NFL’s official sacks record with 23.
Browns coach Todd Monken was not happy about interceptions he saw on the practice field during Organized Team Activities on Wednesday.
Monken said after practice that it should be easy for quarterbacks to find open receivers, given that OTAs don’t include any pass rush, and he wasn’t pleased that his quarterbacks were throwing interceptions anyway.
“We threw interceptions in 7-on-7 for God’s sakes. Who does that? There’s no pass rush. It was embarrassing,” Monken said.
Monken did not say which quarterbacks had thrown embarrassing interceptions. Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are competing for the starting job, while Dillion Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green are taking backup reps.
As for Watson and Sanders, Monken wouldn’t say which quarterback is ahead in the competition at this point. Monken has said he hopes to know who his starting quarterback is by the end of the spring.
Shedeur Sanders made the Pro Bowl last season despite starting only seven games and throwing seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions as a rookie. But Sanders is firmly in the competition with Deshaun Watson for the Browns’ starting job.
Sanders is the only one of the team’s four quarterbacks who spent the offseason working at the team facility.
New head coach Todd Monken praised Sanders’ development since last season.
“I think Shedeur’s come miles, in terms of his progressions, getting the ball out, his understanding of concepts,” Monken said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. “I think he’s really, really come a long way.”
The Browns held their second OTA practice on Wednesday, and Sanders and Watson split the first-team reps. Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green took second- and third-team reps.
Monken hopes to name a starting quarterback before training camp.
“You’d love to have it at every position at the end of spring, but you can’t guarantee that,” Monken said. “We’ll have it set for Jacksonville [in Week 1].”
The Browns kicked off the OTA stage of their offseason program this week and the move into more intense on-field work hasn’t altered their approach to their quarterback competition.
Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders each led off different periods of Wednesday’s practice and head coach Todd Monken said that they will continue to alternate in those opportunities until further notice.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Monken said. “We’re gonna rotate those guys and play the best player. We’ll see.”
Monken said he’s been impressed by Watson’s athleticism and that Sanders has “come miles” in terms of his progressions and understanding of offensive concepts, but didn’t offer any hints about a lean toward one quarterback over another. He said he’d like to have a No. 1 quarterback in place by the end of spring work, “but you can’t guarantee that” will be the case.
Defensive end Markees Watts tried out for the Browns at their rookie minicamp this month and that went well enough to earn him an extended stay in Cleveland.
The Browns announced that they have signed Watts on Tuesday. They also signed wide receiver Aaron Anderson and linebacker Reid Carrico.
Watts spent the last three seasons with the Buccaneers. He appeared in 27 games and recorded 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Anderson and Carrico were both undrafted this year and also took part in the minicamp on a tryout basis. Anderson had 106 receptions for 1,341 yards and five touchdowns while at LSU while Carrico spent time at West Virginia and Ohio State.
The Browns waived defensive tackle Bernard Gooden, tight end Caden Prieskorn, and wide receiver Isaiah Wooden in corresponding moves.
