Todd Monken embraced Shedeur Sanders with a hug on his first day inside the Browns’ practice facility as Cleveland’s head coach, but then tugged on the young quarterback’s arm to give him some grief.
“We tried to draft your ass last year for God’s sake,” Monken joked as Sanders laughed. “It all worked out.”
As offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, Monken was a part of the organization that attempted to select Sanders as he dropped to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft, but Sanders told the team not to draft him as he did not want to back up a bona fide starter in Lamar Jackson. That history prompted questions as to Sanders’ status as Cleveland’s QB1 after Monken was named the Browns coach on Jan. 28.
At his introductory news conference last week, Monken sidestepped the opportunity to anoint Sanders as the Browns’ starter, saying it’s “still to be determined.”
it all worked out@Bullseye_Event | #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/5UC9kjyZnv
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) January 30, 2026
Even as general manager Andrew Berry had said that Cleveland would explore its quarterback options this offseason, part of Monken’s appeal was his ability to work with the team’s current group of quarterbacks — Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel — and meld his scheme to their differing skill sets.
With a coaching career that spans three decades, Monken is well versed in a bevy of schemes, from the Air Raid system to the power run game. Monken’s philosophical beliefs on quarterbacks, especially the value of an athletic passer, could inform not only how the Browns approach targeting a quarterback but how the incumbent passers fit into a Monken-led offense.
“One of the things that our staff, including myself, have been able to do is take advantage of what a player can do and not what they can’t do,” Monken said. “Every player in the NFL is elite, and they all have a trait, at least one trait that allows them to, I don’t want to say this — allows them to function, play at a high level.
“You just got to find what that is and not try to put a square peg in a round hole, taking advantage of what they do. And I think that’s what we’ve been able to do consistently.”
During a presentation in 2023 at the Harbaugh Coaching Academy, Monken spoke on factors that contribute to winning. Monken called one: “QB off-schedule explosives.”
“Statues are out. Athletes are in,” Monken said.
Later, when talking about the keys to an explosive offense, Monken expounded on the idea of having a quarterback who can create off-schedule plays.
“There’s a fine line … you still have to be able to throw it,” he said. “If you want to be explosive, guys that can use their feet and get you out of trouble.”
In Cleveland, Monken inherits a quarterback room that doesn’t directly compare to the dual-threat capabilities of the QB the Ravens had in Jackson, but instead a Browns QB room that presents varying levels of athleticism.
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Sanders, who started the final seven games of the 2025 season and had a 3-4 record, recorded the fifth-lowest QBR (18.9) among 696 quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts in the QBR era (since 2006). Though Berry characterized him after the draft as a more of a “retro” passer, some of Sanders’ best moments came when extending plays, such as his 52-yard completion to wide receiver Isaiah Bond while evading a blitz in his first start against the Las Vegas Raiders (a 24-10 win in Week 12).
Sanders also scrambled for 137 yards in his seven starts, which was tied with Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert for fifth among 30 qualifying quarterbacks, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. His 253 scramble passing yards tied for ninth during that timeframe.
Monken’s presentation also touched on the value of turnovers — forcing and limiting them — as well as lost yardage plays. Both are areas in which Sanders will have to improve in his second season. He threw the most interceptions in the NFL (10) during his seven starts. And though the Browns struggled in protection, Sanders held onto the ball too long at times. During his seven starts, he was sacked three times when the time from snap to pressure/sack was at least 4 seconds; that was tied for the second-most such sacks in that period.
“We saw a lot of progress with Shedeur this year,” Berry said in January. “I think that’s both mentally and physically playing the position. He’s still very much a work in progress, like many rookie quarterbacks are. But I think we saw some really good things in terms of his playmaking, his accuracy, his ability to extend with his feet.
“And I think I’d also give him credit, as well as our offensive staff, for bringing him along in terms of his pocket management, his situational awareness and things of that nature.”
Gabriel, the No. 94 pick in the 2025 draft, started six games before sustaining a concussion in Week 11 that gave Sanders an opportunity to start. He faced similar struggles with one win as a starter and the second-lowest QBR (31.5) of the 38 quarterbacks who made at least six starts. Gabriel also didn’t provide as much production as Sanders as a runner; his 89 scramble yards ranked 12th out of 32 qualifying passers during his six starts and his 85 scramble passing yards ranked 13th.
The wild card in the quarterback room, though, is Watson. He did not play in 2025 as he rehabbed a right Achilles tear he sustained in October 2024. Watson underwent a second surgery in January 2025 after retearing his Achilles and spent the season on the physically unable to perform list. Watson practiced with the team during a three-week stretch in which the Browns opened his practice window but did so with the intent of getting him time on the field before the season ended and the offseason workout program began in the spring.
Watson, 30, has failed to reach the Pro Bowl form he showed during his time with the Houston Texans. He has played in only 19 games since the Browns traded three first-round picks and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million in March 2022. Since joining Cleveland, his 33.1 Total QBR would rank last in the league among qualifying passers.
Despite the on-field struggles and lack of availability, Berry said he anticipated Watson being on the roster in 2026. The Browns still owe Watson $46 million in salary next season.
At his peak, Watson was one of the league’s top dual-threat quarterbacks, one capable of extending plays but also providing a component as a designed runner. Watson, though, is years removed from that level of play, and it remains to be seen how the impact of two Achilles tears and another season without playing has affected his physical ability.
NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett conducted an interview last week on Micah Parsons’ podcast ahead of Super Bowl LX and said Sanders is whom the Browns are “looking at as the guy,” but he said Sanders would have to earn the role.
“We’re going to give him a shot to prove that he’s the guy,” Garrett said. “We’re not going to give anyone that title until they go out there and earn it. He was the last person to be on the field, and he showed some flashes. So, we’re going to give him an opportunity to show what he can really do, uncork the ball. … I feel like everyone on the roster is going to get a shot. Now, [Sanders] was the last guy on the field, so he’s going to obviously get first [opportunity]. And Deshaun, whoever’s on the roster, they’re going to get a real look.”
