With the NFL regular season less than two months away, the Cleveland Browns remain undecided on their starting quarterback as training camp opens. Head coach Todd Monken confirmed on July 29 that veteran Deshaun Watson and second-year player Shedeur Sanders will continue competing for the QB1 position, with the team withholding a definitive choice for now.
Monken indicated that neither Watson nor Sanders proved sufficiently ahead of the other during spring practices to secure the starting role, leading to an ongoing competition through the summer. “Nothing’s really changed,” Monken said, adding that all four quarterbacks on the roster would receive repetitions during camp, though not equally. The Browns' quarterback room also includes Dillon Gabriel, a 2025 third-round pick, and 2026 sixth-round selection Taylen Green, but neither is expected to see significant first-team action.
“We have to divide the reps up according to the depth chart,” Monken explained. “In a perfect world ... I would prefer the ones get 50% (of reps), the twos get 33%, and the threes get 17%, and somewhere the other guys have got to fill in.” He noted that the distribution in practice can serve as an indicator of the team’s starter, saying, “The more those guys, you start to see them with the ones, you can kind of anticipate they’re our starters.”
Monken also emphasized that past performance will not dictate the choice, placing the emphasis on training camp and preseason showings. “Their play decides who the starter is,” he said. While the coaching staff has no set deadline beyond the start of the regular season, Monken acknowledged the necessity of naming a starter by Week 1.
Watson, in the final season of a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract signed in 2022, has yet to play since Week 7 of the 2024 season after suffering an Achilles injury and a subsequent re-injury in January 2025. Over three years with Cleveland, Watson has averaged 177.1 passing yards, one touchdown, and 0.6 interceptions per game in 19 starts.
Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round draft pick, enters his second NFL season after making seven starts last year. He accumulated 1,400 passing yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions across eight games, while being sacked 23 times for a loss of 164 yards.
The Browns face a more open quarterback contest than other teams with training camp battles, such as the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, where quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray, and Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., respectively, have emerged as apparent frontrunners. Cleveland’s head coaching staff will rely on camp performances to determine which quarterback will lead the offense this season.