After a long search, the Cleveland Browns finally have a new coach after hiring former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken to succeed Kevin Stefanski. Now that this major question has been answered, the organization can finally shift gears and focus on other needed areas of improvement, such as the quarterback position, where Shedeur Sanders’ status as the 2026 starter is certainly up for debate.
Sanders showed promise during his seven starts down the stretch, but he also showed plenty of reasons why he fell to the fifth round in the 2025 draft. Regardless, given the state of the organization, there’s a real chance he’ll get another chance to start in 2026, and one of his biggest advocates, Skip Bayless, recently chimed in on the subject to provide his two cents as well.
During a recent episode of The Arena: Gridiron, Bayless sat down with Aqib Talib and Gerald McCoy to discuss the fact that Monken recently opted not to officially name Sanders the 2026 starter. While many would agree that it’s the right approach for Monken to take, Bayless stated that he’ll win the job easily.
“Shedeur will win this job. He should be the starter and he is the answer.”
Will Shedeur Sanders be the starting QB for the Browns next season? pic.twitter.com/zUfaZOtOKH
— The Arena: Gridiron (@ArenaGridiron) February 4, 2026
The Browns have Deshaun Watson on the books for an $80 million cap hit in 2026. Third-round pick Dillon Gabriel is also still in town, so there’s not much flexibility at all if the Browns want to bring in another QB to compete with this group. Gabriel could always be traded so the Browns can draft somebody else, but given the uncertainty with this QB class, all signs point to the Browns waiting until 2027 to find another quarterback if Sanders turns out not to be the guy.
Monken has had plenty of positive things to say about Sanders, and his presence should be good for Shedeur’s development. He pushed Lamar Jackson to another MVP award and his best statistical season, so it’s ideal to have an experienced offensive mind like this for Sanders and the rest of the group to learn from.
Sanders certainly didn’t do enough to lock down the starting role, but he did show plenty of potential. Only time will tell if Bayless is right about this one.
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