Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken made one thing clear on Tuesday: the team is not ready to hand either Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback job, and that reality is unlikely to change before minicamp wraps up Thursday.
Speaking to reporters in Berea, Monken said both passers have performed at a level that earns them the right to keep competing. Neither player has done enough to separate himself, upward or downward, and the head coach said the lack of padded practices and preseason game experience makes a definitive call premature. The quarterback competition will almost certainly carry into training camp later this summer.
A rotation built on balance
Throughout the offseason program, Sanders and Watson have shared first-team practice reps in a deliberate and structured way. On Tuesday, the opening day of the three-day mandatory minicamp, Sanders handled all the starting reps in 11-on-11 drills while Watson worked with the second unit. Monken said Watson would step in with the first team Wednesday, and the two would split those reps evenly on Thursday before the camp concludes.
The arrangement reflects a coaching staff that is genuinely undecided rather than one managing egos or buying time. Monken, in his first season as an NFL head coach, has been transparent throughout the offseason about wanting to enter training camp with a clear depth chart. That goal, however, has been complicated by the fact that both quarterbacks keep playing well.
Leaning one way, then the other
Monken has acknowledged publicly that his thinking shifts from day to day. Last week he described his decision-making process as fluid, noting that he tends to lean toward one player or the other depending on recent performance, only to find himself reconsidering shortly after. He has also said he believes Cleveland has two quarterbacks who are capable of starting at the NFL level, a compliment to both players that also underscores why the choice is so difficult.
The honest assessment from the coaching staff is that the competition has not yet reached its most revealing stage. Without pads, without a live opponent, without controlled scrimmages, and without preseason game film, there is simply not enough evidence to make a call that the organization feels confident standing behind heading into a regular season that carries significant expectations.
What comes next
The Browns enter training camp in late July with one of the more intriguing quarterback situations in the league. Watson, a former top-five pick whose career was derailed by injury and off-field matters, is competing alongside Sanders, the highly touted rookie who drew national attention throughout the college football season and during the pre-draft process.
For Cleveland, getting the decision right matters enormously. The franchise has cycled through quarterbacks at a pace that has become something of a league-wide conversation, and both players arrive carrying their own weight of expectation and scrutiny. Monken has so far resisted the pressure to force a conclusion before the competition has run its natural course.
Thursday’s final minicamp practice will close out this phase of the evaluation. But with neither player pulling decisively ahead, the real answer to Cleveland’s quarterback question is still weeks away.
