When Browns head coach Todd Monken broke down the division of work for the team’s quarterbacks at their first minicamp practice on Tuesday, he said that things would change every day and that the team set things up “in a way for us to get a look at all of” Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel.
Monken went on to say that Sanders got the most work on Tuesday and that the team made sure to get him and Watson work with the first team. There was no mention of Gabriel getting that work and the common view of things in Cleveland has focused on the other two quarterbacks as the ones with real chances to wind up as the starter.
Gabriel was a third-round pick last year and he took over for Joe Flacco as the Browns’ starter in Week Five. His run lasted six weeks before a concussion opened the door to Sanders and Gabriel only played two more snaps all season. That doesn’t do anything to hurt the impression that Gabriel is on the outside looking in at this year’s competition and he was asked how he deals with being in his current position.
“You know, I think I’m just running my own race and focused on what I can control, and that’s mastering my reps and doing it a high level,” Gabriel said, via Cleveland.com.
The Browns haven’t ruled out adding another quarterback in the draft this week and a move in that direction could lead to Gabriel running the rest of his race in another setting.
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Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders made his NFL regular-season debut with no first-team reps, replacing Dillon Gabriel in Week 11 of his rookie season. Drafted after Gabriel, Sanders spent much of last season fourth on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Gabriel.
In Tuesday’s minicamp, Sanders had more first-team reps than Deshaun Watson and Gabriel, with a real chance to start in 2026.
“That’s not up to me [who starts],” Sanders said, via Zac Jackson of TheAthletic.com. “I go out there every day and focus on what I can control. If I focus on something I can’t control, then I’ll be living the wrong way.”
Sanders, who earned Pro Bowl honors despite only seven starts and more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (seven), has spent the offseason at the team facility. He credits new coach Todd Monken for "[speaking] life into me.”
“There’s a lot of new energy,” Sanders said. “I’m loving what we’re doing. I’m open to learning every day. I’m just coming here with a renewed mindset and just approaching life with a renewed mindset.”
Watson has played only 19 games the past five seasons, including none in 2025 after a twice-repaired Achilles. Still, his 72 career starts give him experience Sanders doesn’t have.
“Deshaun has accomplished a lot in his career, obviously, so when I have questions about certain things, I ask him,” Sanders said. “And I just like hearing his perspective on problems that I could have or the way I think about things — just hearing the way he thinks of things and hearing the way Dillon thinks of things, hearing the way Coach Monken thinks of things.”
Myles Garrett attended the Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday. He is not attending the Browns’ voluntary minicamp.
Todd Monken said he has not spoken to his star edge rusher since becoming the Browns’ head coach on Jan. 30. The two have exchanged text messages.
“It hasn’t been a lot. It’s fine. This is voluntary,” Monken said, via video from 92.3 The Fan. “We’re making a big deal out of this. We really are. It’s voluntary. We have other guys besides Myles that aren’t here. I wish they were here. They’ll be ready. We expect them to be ready, and we’ll be fired up when they’re here.
“And really all the players have informed us. They’ve been unbelievable with their communication. So, has Myles. They’ve communicated. Doesn’t mean I like the communication, but it’s voluntary. I wish they were all here. I’ve said that plenty of times. But every one of them is a Brown, and we’re excited that they are.”
Denzel Ward and Jerry Jeudy also were absent on Tuesday.
Garrett has a $1 million workout bonus for 2026, forcing him to participate in 84.375 percent of the offseason sessions and all minicamps and OTA days. Since Tuesday began a minicamp, Garrett presumably has lost $1 million of his 2026 base compensation.
Monken said he can’t speak to whether defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg has communicated with Garrett.
Garrett requested a trade a year ago before signing a four-year, $160 million deal with the Browns in March 2025. After the Browns went 5-12 last season, the Defensive Player of the Year again expressed displeasure with the organization’s losing ways.
The Browns and Garrett agreed to modified language in the All-Pro’s contract this offseason that makes it easier for the team to trade Garrett. However, General Manager Andrew Berry insisted last month that the team wants to make Garrett “a career Brown.”
The Browns did their first on-field work of the spring on Tuesday and the division of quarterback work was of particular interest during their minicamp practice.
Shedeur Sanders got the first reps in drills and that decision was the subject of an early question to head coach Todd Monken during a post-practice press conference. Monken said he was expecting to be asked about that and said the coaches were “just rotating” who got the first chance in each set.
Monken said that the team’s plan was for Sanders to get more reps on Tuesday and that the division of work between Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel will change over the next two days of the minicamp.
“It was set up in a way for us to get a look at all of them,” Monken said. “The plan was that Shedeur would have a few more reps, but let Shedeur and Deshaun each get reps with the ones.”
Monken said he thought all of the quarterbacks “were in command” and that the last few weeks of classroom work showed in their ability to function within the offense. Monken called that the start of the process and the way that process plays out will continue to be of significant interest in Cleveland.
It’s just a matter of time before the NFL draft produces its own Thornton Melon.
The implosion of the various antitrust violations masquerading as NCAA rules has made it easier than ever for players with remaining eligibility to return to college. Last year, the NCAA gave James Nnaji four years of eligibility even though he’d been selected in the first round of the NBA draft.
At some point, a drafted NFL player will make the business decision to go back to school.
Unless and until the fat cats get the federal government to throw them an undeserved lifeline, college players will enjoy maximum earning potential and mobility. The current climate creates an opportunity for a drafted player with options at the college level to choose to return to a level of football that is just as professional as the NFL.
Last year, as Shedeur Sanders plummeted through Day 2 of the draft, we explained that — at some point — it made sense for him to tap out of the process and return to Colorado (or another program). It became one of the most-read articles in the 24-year history of the platform.
There was also a question as to whether Quinn Ewers would do the same thing, once he fell to round seven.
In the end, neither tried. But that was before it became even more clear that a viable path exists.
This year, the player to watch is quarterback Ty Simpson. He recently said he could have made $6.5 million for another year of college football. That’s roughly equal to the average annual pay for the sixth overall pick in the draft.
Simpson is regarded as a possible first-round pick. If he isn’t taken in round one, he has 18 hours to consider his situation. And while most college programs have already lined up their players for 2026, someone will surely want him if he decides to go back. And while $6.5 million would be hard to get back on the table, Simpson could get a lot more than he’d receive as a second-round pick. (Last year, the contract signed by the first player taken in round two averaged $2.1 million per year.)
The key for Simpson would be to make a clear and loud declaration that he’s exiting the draft process. If he’s drafted and returns to school, that team will continue to hold his rights in the spot where he was picked, once he comes to the NFL. If he’s going to tap out, he needs to do so in a way that prompts no one to draft him.
The problem is that, the longer he lingers, the more attractive it will become financially to squat on his rights and hold them for 2027.
Regardless, a Triple Lindy into the college football pool remains possible. It was for Sanders and Ewers. It is for Simpson. And it will continue to be one for any player who slides farther in the draft than he expected.
Veteran defensive end Josh Paschal isn’t on the Browns’ roster, but he is taking part in their minicamp this week.
Paschal is on a list of 11 players trying out for the team that Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal shared on Tuesday. Paschal was a 2022 second-round pick of the Lions and Detroit released him last month.
Paschal missed all of last season after having back surgery, but appeared in 36 games over his first three seasons. He had 62 tackles and five sacks during his time with the Lions.
Wide receiver Keith Kirkwood, running back Sincere McCormick, safety Patrick McMorris, cornerback Keenan Garber, safety JT Woods, defensive tackle Fatoma Mulbah, defensive end Markees Watts, tackle Tyler McLellan, center Joe Michalski, and defensive tackle Jacob Sykes are the other tryout players in Cleveland.
The 2025 draft will be remembered for a few significant things. One will be the prolonged slide of quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Another will be the news of the prank call made to Sanders during the second night of the draft.
The league investigated. The NFL learned that the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich made the call. The Falcons explained that Jax Ulbrich “unintentionally came across the draft contact phone number” for Sanders on an “open iPad” while Jax Ulbrich was visiting his parents’ home.
The NFL fined the team $250,000 and Ulbrich $100,000. The league also pushed the idea that Sanders’s number was sent to a limited number of people per team in a confidential email, and that (basically) the Falcons shared the number with Ulbrich at their own risk.
That was not accurate. The number was contained in an email that went to roughly 2,000 people, via the same distribution list used for the daily transaction report. It was sent directly by the league to Ulbrich and many others in an email that was not marked “confidential.”
Sanders isn’t the only player who received a prank call last year. Defensive end Abdul Carter got a prank call that he’d be drafted by the Jaguars, who had traded up to No. 2, before Carter was picked by the Giants at No. 3. Running back Ashton Jeanty got a call that he’d been traded to the Cowboys, after he was picked by the Raiders.
The solution to the problem was clear: Severely limit access to the prospects’ numbers.
This year, that’s what the league will be doing.
“The relevant contact information will be provided by the league to a single point of contact at the club in football operations,” an NFL spokesperson told PFT via email. “This individual will be responsible for safeguarding the numbers.”
We’ll see whether it works. Obviously, others who have the player’s number could use the knowledge to prank him. The chances, however, of the prank call tracing to 345 Park Avenue and/or one of the teams will be minimized.
If the calls still happen, the NFL will have only one option. Make the phone calls after the picks have been announced to the world.
In 2025, every NFL team entered the draft with its first-round pick still in place. This year is a whole lot different.
The 2026 NFL draft now has six teams with two first-round picks and six teams with no first-round picks, after the Bengals traded their first-round pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence.
Of the teams with two first-round picks, the Giants are in the best position to make significant additions to their roster, as both their picks are in the Top 10: Their own first-round pick is No. 5 overall and the Bengals’ first-round pick is No. 10 overall.
The Dolphins have their own pick (No. 11) as well as the Broncos’ pick (No. 30) from the Jaylen Waddle trade.
The Jets have their own pick (No. 2) and the Colts’ pick (No. 16) from the Sauce Gardner trade.
The Cowboys have their own pick (No. 12) and the Packers’ pick (No. 20) from the Micah Parsons trade.
The Chiefs have their own pick (No. 9) and the Rams’ pick (No. 29) from the Trent McDuffie trade.
The Browns have their own pick (No. 6) and the Jaguars’ pick (No. 24) from the draft-day trade a year ago that allowed the Jaguars to move up to draft Travis Hunter.
A seventh team was poised to get a second first-round pick when the Raiders agreed to trade Maxx Crosby to the Ravens, but that trade fell through and the Ravens kept their first-round pick.
Six teams don’t have a first-round pick: The Bengals, Broncos, Falcons, Colts, Packers and Jaguars.
All of the teams with two first-round picks missed the playoffs this year. They’re looking to rebuild their rosters, and hoping they’ll look back in a few years and say having two first-round picks was a big part of turning their teams around.
During the scouting combine, former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson said that it would be a “dream come true” to play for new Browns head coach Todd Monken, who the signal-caller has known for years as a family friend.
Cleveland is one of several teams that have spent plenty of pre-draft time with Simpson, who is widely regarded as the second-best QB in this year’s class. Though the Browns have Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel on their roster at the position, there’s certainly a chance they could add a rookie via the draft.
Asked about Simpson during his pre-draft press conference on Thursday, Browns General Manger Andrew Berry told reporters that the team has “enjoyed the time that we’ve spent with Ty.”
“[S]on of a coach, really smart, very driven, he’s physically talented,” Berry said, via transcript from the team. “He has a very unique college journey, in terms of coming in as a five star and then really having to wait his turn behind two pretty talented quarterbacks [in] Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before getting his chance under center. And he did a great job maximizing it.
“So, we’ve really enjoyed our time with Ty.”
If the Browns were to select a quarterback, what would that mean for those already on the roster?
“I’d say I don’t love dealing in hypotheticals,” Berry said. “So, I guess I’d say this, if we add a quarterback, we have a lot of love for the quarterbacks that are in the room, that’s probably the first thing. So that decision would be made independently of anything that we add to the room.”
Simpson started for one year at Alabama, completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,567 yards with 28 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2025, earning second-team All-SEC recognition.
Browns General Manager Andrew Berry has heard the same speculation about his plans for the No. 6 pick as everyone else.
That speculation has centered on the Browns trading down in order to add more picks that can be used to replenish their roster ahead of Todd Monken’s first season as the team’s head coach. At a Thursday press conference, Berry smiled while saying that he loves “how everybody last year thought we weren’t trading down and everybody this year assumes that we are” before going on to say that the dynamics are different than when the team traded out of the No. 2 pick last year.
Berry landed the Browns a a second first-round pick this year in that trade and said that his only goal with the team’s top pick in 2026 is to make sure they maximize their return regardless of whether they stay put or make a move.
“I’d go back to what I’ve said in the past,” Berry said. “Our mindset going into the draft with our most valuable asset isn’t about, hey, just trade it away. It’s maximizing the asset. And that can, at different times, take different forms. It can be selecting a player. It could be trading up for a veteran. It could be trading down. It could be trading up. We will continue to work through all those possibilities up until, really, we get on the clock on Thursday night. But I’d say we’re working through a number of different scenarios at this point.”
The first five picks will have something to do with the direction the Browns choose to go once the time comes for Berry to stop considering the choices and make his decision, but Berry should have a good idea of what will be on the table by the time next Thursday rolls around.
