The Cleveland Browns had a four-man quarterback competition in 2025 that went as poorly as most expected, but this year’s battle is between just Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. Watson appears to have the inside track to winning the job for a number of reasons, but it’s still an open competition until the day new head coach Todd Monken picks his guy.
With OTAs currently underway, the status of the QB competition seems to be shifting a bit every single day, with a report yesterday from ESPN’s Tony Grossi suggesting that Monken doesn’t want to let this drag out and would like to name a starter soon. While all signs have been pointing toward Watson, Wednesday’s OTA session actually provided an interesting development that may indicate this is still more of a competition than the fans were led to believe.
During a recent appearance on Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, Zac Jackson of The Athletic noted that Shedeur Sanders worked as the starter in all team drills on Wednesday. It was the first time in camp that has happened and Jackson stressed that this competition is far from over.
“Operationally, there was a change, and that was that Shedeur Sanders was first in line for all 11-on-11 competitive periods, and that’s the first time we’ve seen that. We’ve seen a pretty fair split. I think we’ve seen a pretty fair representation that it is a competition. Yesterday, Shedeur was in there, and he had the throw of the day. I thought it was crazy for people to overreact to Deshaun Watson throwing three good passes. I think it’s a fair reaction. I don’t think it’s an overreaction. More than anything, as we head to the end of the offseason, there is a quarterback competition ongoing,” Jackson said.
Shedeur Sanders went ahead of Deshaun Watson in 11-on-11 drills during the open portion of Wednesday’s OTAs 👀🏈@AkronJackson shares his overall assessment of the #Browns QB play and what stood out most from the session 😳https://t.co/Dvh4DZJyRQ pic.twitter.com/mH4GNnE7uY
— Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show (@ultCLEsports) June 4, 2026
Watson generated some buzz earlier in OTAs with some impressive throws and a handful of touchdowns, but the fact that Sanders saw all the first-team reps on Wednesday isn’t worth ignoring. A lot of what happens in OTAs is, but this at least suggests that Monken is still pondering his decision.
Watson hasn’t looked like a star since he last dominated for the Houston Texans in 2020. It appeared the Browns were done with him, but ownership’s comments earlier in the offseason represented a significant softening in that stance and it now sounds as if the team wants to give him one last shot to provide some return on investment. It would also be a bit easier to pivot from Watson to Sanders as opposed to the other way around given Sanders’ youth, but this is a strong roster overall and it would be a disservice to the rest of the locker room not to simply play the guy who gives them the best chance to win.
Perhaps Monken just wanted to give Sanders an extended look to help him in his decision-making process. Perhaps he still thinks Sanders can be the guy. Only time will tell.
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