Shedeur Sanders was hoping to become the Cleveland Browns‘ offensive leader in his second year. The entire offseason, he gradually improved and made the QB1 battle against Deshaun Watson competitive. Yet, Watson took the job, and now HC Todd Monken has weighed in on Sanders’ offseason growth and future with the franchise.
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“Every player is a little bit different,” Monken told media on Tuesday. “You see quarterbacks go in there and right away play well, and you’ve seen others that need some time, and that’s at every position. Some, it happens quicker than others, some have further to go.
“I know this, from the jump in the offseason, when he showed some things that I really liked, the way he’s wired — that’s when we made the decision to give him more reps. That’s when we decided to make it a competition for Shedeur and for us.”
Shedeur Sanders is headed into his second NFL year, coming off a rookie season where he was sacked the most in the Browns QB room. However, looking at Shedeur’s growth this offseason, where he completed 70.5% of his throws (93-of-132) compared to Watson’s 60.3% (76-of-126), HC Todd Monken is impressed.
“I’m excited about the long game for him,” Monken added. “There are certain things he has to continue to work on, and he’s going to continue to grow leaps and bounds because he’s a sponge — takes it all in, he really does. So, I just think it’s a matter of time before we get a chance to see that.”
Despite coming off an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025 season, Deshaun Watson secured the starting job over Sanders, considering the massive $230M contract he signed with the Browns in 2022. Monken’s announcement came after assessing both Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson in the first two preseason games.
When they faced the Chicago Bears on August 15, Watson started and completed 11-of-15 passes for 126 yards.
Meanwhile, Sanders started the second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and outperformed Watson by completing 9-of-11 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.
However, according to HC Todd Monken, Deshaun Watson gives the Cleveland Browns the “best chance to move the ball and score points”. With that, while Shedeur Sanders now waits for a chance to lead the Browns’ offense, the veteran QB will start the Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 13.