The Cleveland Browns are having an open quarterback competition heading into the 2026 NFL season.
Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson will rotate reps at QB1 in training camp. There is currently no timetable for a decision. Sanders started the final seven games of the 2025 season, though Watson - a former Pro Bowler - is believed to be healthy and ready to make an impact this fall.
“Yeah, nothing’s really changed,” head coach Todd Monken said during his Wednesday press conference. “We anticipate alternating. First of all, all four quarterbacks are going to compete. They all won’t get equal reps. Obviously, we will alternate, just like we did in the spring, Deshaun and Shedeur with the ones.”
Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green could get involved in the competition, too.
“Obviously, [if] you don’t have as many opportunities, you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities you get,” Monken said. “But you never know how it’s going to go at any position. Minor injuries are a part of training camp. So, guys go down, their shoulder’s a little sore and Dillon comes in and plays well — or another position.
“Again, we have to divide the reps up according to the depth chart. In a perfect world in camp, me personally, I would prefer the ones get 50 percent, the twos get 33 percent, and the threes get 17 percent, and somewhere the other guys have got to fill in. Can you always count on that? No. So, the more those guys, you start to see them with the ones, you can kind of anticipate they’re our starters.”
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Ultimately, it will be a performance-based decision.
“Ultimately, I’m not going to decide who the starter is. They decide by their play. Their play decides who the starter is,” Monken said. “I don’t have any preconceived notions of how they’re played in the past or how they’re going to play. I only can, with my eyes, judge. And guys have got to play well around them. I think we’ve shored up some things up front. We’ve added some weapons on the perimeter, so I think that’s going to help.
“But they’ll decide who plays — I don’t decide who plays, the players decide who plays.”
Right now, though, Watson's performance is not good enough
Watson's training camp passing stats are 'brutal' so far
Watson has not had a good start to training camp.
The former NFL Draft first round pick went 12 for 22 with no touchdowns and two interceptions during training camp practice on Wednesday. He's going to need to be a lot better than that.
Watson appears to be shaking off a lot of rust right now. Time will tell if he can get back to his earlier NFL career form, or if this is a job for Shedeur Sanders or someone else on Cleveland's roster.
