Shedeur

Sanders

The Browns are still laboring through the repercussions of the Watson trade. He will remain on the roster this year and was nearly ready to return from his torn Achilles at the end of the 2025 season. He should be a full-go for the start of the offseason program, putting him in line to compete with Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders for the starting job. The Browns could make another addition via free agency or the draft, but our hopes are not high for this room in 2026.

Head coach Todd Monken has already said the team will have an “open competition” at quarterback this summer. Watson, who is returning from a torn Achilles he suffered in 2024, remains under contract through this season for what is the final year of the record-setting deal he signed in 2022. Watson’s deal makes him nearly impossible to move on from this offseason, as a release would count for an absurd $131 million in dead cap money. Assuming he’s healthy and on the roster, Watson should have every chance to win the job in camp and will likely have the inside edge over Shedeur Sanders, who struggled mightily as a rookie.

Monken praised Sanders’ “elite play-making ability” and said he will have a shot at the starting job for Week 1. The Browns currently have Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and Deshaun Watson on the roster as potential Week 1 starters. Given how poorly all three of them played in 2025, or 2024 for Watson, Cleveland will almost certainly be in the market for a veteran passer in free agency. Barring a surprise in the draft, the Browns will have plenty of options at quarterback, none of which inspire much confidence.

Between the smoke on Ty Simpson and Malik Willis and Berry refusing to really stamp a player as “in the lead” here, it sure feels like this situation is unsettled heading into free agency. Sanders probably enters training camp as the main favorite for the job if the Browns don’t sign Willis, but anything could happen there. Up to and including a drafted quarterback winning the organization over.

“I wouldn’t put any restraints on that,” Berry said Tuesday at the NFL Combine when asked about taking another QB after the team drafted both Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in 2025.

With two Pro Bowl quarterbacks already on the roster in Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, it’s hard to imagine the Browns wanting to add even more to an already loaded QB room. That said, Willis, who is expected to be a highly coveted free agent this offseason, and Simpson could both be considered as options to add to the offense in Todd Monken’s first year at the helm. Watson remains a true question mark entering 2026. While he is under contract with the Browns through next season, the early return on his record-setting deal has been disappointing. Watson is returning from a torn Achilles he suffered in 2024 and has thrown for just 3,365-19-12 in the 19 games he’s played in for them over three years. When it comes to Sanders, the rookie QB is coming off a brutal first season that featured more lows than highs, and as a fifth-round pick, he shouldn’t be viewed as a lock to be handed any starting job. The Browns will have plenty of time to discuss all options at the NFL Scouting Combine this week, but Willis and Simpson will be two names to watch as free agency and draft talk continues to ramp up.

The Browns have two first-round picks this year. Wolfe reports that the Browns believe they are “close to set” on defense and are expected to “go heavy on offense” in the 2026 NFL Draft. New head coach Todd Monken’s scheme is said to have more “flexibility” than former head coach Kevin Stefanski’s scheme did, and the Browns apparently believe Monken’s scheme could allow Shedeur Sanders to “use his play-making ability” more effectively. The Browns also “believe” Deshaun Watson will compete with Sanders for the starting role.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that Sanders is the long-term starter for the Browns — in fact, Jackson even says they’re probably looking at drafting another quarterback “fairly early” in this year’s draft. But it seems like the team is mostly playing its cards as if they’re getting ready for 2027, not 2026, with Deshaun Watson as “a fallback option because he has to be.” That should give Shedeur Sanders a chance to start in 2026 — he’ll need to do better than he did towards the end of 2025 to keep the job, however, incredibly funny Pro Bowl nod aside.

He added that he’s “absolutely excited” to coach Sanders and the other Browns offensive quarterbacks. We’re not sure who else the Browns would bring in between a draft board that looks very iffy after the Raiders select Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall and a free-agency class at the position that looks depleted after Malik Willis. We’d give Sanders good odds of being the Week 1 starter here, but it’s clear the Browns are going to at least make him earn it.

We’re cleaning up the exact quote a bit, but regardless, Monken’s comments confirmed a report from last season that the Ravens attempted to draft Sanders only for Sanders and his team to say he didn’t want to be Lamar Jackson’s backup. As Monken also mentioned in a video that can be found on the Browns’ socials, “it’s all worked out” now for Monken and Sanders, who, for now, are paired together for the 2026 season. Sanders struggled mightily as a rookie last season and the Browns are expected to add at least one quarterback to their room this season, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. While he shouldn’t be considered a lock to open next season as the Browns’ starter, it appears Monken had some genuine interest in the former fifth-round pick, which could be a good sign for his future.