Shedeur Sanders won't open the 2026 season as the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, but that doesn't mean his new head coach and team have given up on him.
Todd Monken reportedly made the decision on Monday to name veteran quarterback Deshaun Watson as the starter for Cleveland's Week 1 road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It made for a rough start to the week for Browns fans, whose franchise seems to choose the most dysfunctional path every chance it gets.
But for those paying close attention throughout the spring and summer, this wasn't a major surprise.
Sanders appeared to be trailing the more experienced Watson entering Saturday's preseason start against the Buffalo Bills. And although his strong performance in that game — coupled with Watson’s flop and all-time-bad press conference — made things interesting leading up to Monday's news, Monken's commentary throughout the offseason always leaned toward playing the veteran first.
It would be a knee-jerk reaction to label Sanders as a loser in this quarterback battle, or a trade candidate come roster cutdown day. As usual with major depth chart decisions of this magnitude, context is required, and Sanders can still be an ascending player in the Browns’ organization without starting against the Jaguars on Sept. 13.
Todd Monken and the Cleveland Browns may be protecting Shedeur Sanders, not bailing on him
Based on 2025 win percentage, the Browns have the NFL’s easiest schedule this year, but their opening month is the opposite of favorable. Their first two games will be played in the Florida heat against formidable and unfamiliar defenses in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay.
The Browns then return to Cleveland to play two games in five days against 2025 playoff qualifiers, Carolina on Sunday followed by Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Sanders showed clear improvement with his footwork and processing ability this summer, but he’s still a 24-year-old quarterback who’s learning a new offensive system entering his second year in the league. The underrated part of Monken's decision-making process was not throwing Sanders to the wolves.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Browns emphasized to Sanders that they were playing “the long game” with his development, and that he understood the decision to go with Watson and took it in stride.
Here’s the quiet part about the Browns’ quarterback competition: It’s been poor all around. Sanders may have looked better over the balance of two preseason games, but Cleveland’s offense is loaded with first- and second-year players. They haven’t yet gone against a real defense that’s had weeks to game plan and prepare.
Neither quarterback was going to be set up for success over the first month of the regular season. Monken knows that. His decision to lean on the veteran early while continuing to develop his young quarterback behind the scenes is more logical than the coach will get credit for in Monday’s fallout.
Sanders didn’t do enough to leave Monken no choice, but he’s done enough to remain in the team’s plans as an ascending young player. He won’t start Week 1, but similar to 2025, his time should arrive by midseason.
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