The Cleveland Browns are about to wrap up the initial stage of their quarterback competition. The team will conduct its final practices of this portion of the preseason at a three-day mandatory minicamp, which begins on Tuesday.
Since the first voluntary minicamp back in April, Deshaun Watson has held the lead in the competition between him and Shedeur Sanders. Several reasons were given for this, ranging from Watson’s edge in experience to his return to full health to his fit in head coach Todd Monken’s system. Meanwhile, Sanders may not have shown enough to make up ground coming off an underwhelming rookie season.
Based on what has happened to date, analyst Ken Carman said Sanders is about to face the “biggest week” of his brief career, trying to close the gap and avoid losing the starting job to Watson before training camp even begins.
“This might be the biggest week of Shedeur Sanders’ career. I think after this week, Todd Monken is gonna go into training camp with a very strong idea that either Deshaun Watson is his quarterback or we really need to give this young man a look here because everything we’ve heard has been Watson, Watson, Watson the whole way through,” Carman said.
"This might be the biggest week of Shedeur Sanders' career. I think after this week Todd Monken is gonna go into training camp with a strong idea that either Deshaun Watson is his QB or we need to give (Shedeur) a look here."
🏈@KenCarman tells @SportsBoyTony that minicamp this… https://t.co/xDi8cj0x6R pic.twitter.com/gCeD6mRTOu
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 8, 2026
Recent reports seem to indicate that while Sanders is gaining on Watson, the veteran may also show signs of coming back to the pack. Watson may have benefited from the low expectations that surrounded him after sitting out all of last season and playing just seven games since November 2023.
Any ability he showed during these non-contact practices was likely to be greeted with optimism as the Browns hold out hope that they will get at least one Pro Bowl-level season for what they paid for him in both draft capital and contract money. Sanders can keep the competition open with another good week of practice, then capitalize on his potential advantage when the quarterbacks actually face a real pass rush and contact in pads.
Unless one of the two quarterbacks completely falls on his face or gets injured, either this week or in training camp, Monken may be best served to watch them in at least one preseason game before making a final decision. Continuing to split practice reps for that long is not ideal, but it may be necessary.
It is a difficult decision between the better chance to win now and serving the franchise for the future, and if there’s no need to rush, patience could be the key.
NEXT: Analyst Sees Encouraging Growth Across Browns' QB Room
