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Browns' HC Todd Monken makes bold claim about current QB battle
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- Browns' HC Todd Monken makes bold claim about current QB battle
As the Cleveland Browns and newly-hired head coach Todd Monken begin to prepare for the 2026 NFL season, fans are eager to see who will win the starting quarterback job for the team's Week One contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars .
General manager Andrew Berry, despite his efforts to revamp the offense throughout the offseason, did not make any significant moves to address the quarterback position. This leaves Monken with veteran Deshaun Watson and 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders as his primary options for the quarterback position in 2026, forcing him to create a competition between the two players throughout the offseason.
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When asked about the current state of the Browns ' quarterback battle, Monken told reporters on Thursday that he believes that the team has "two starting-level quarterbacks."
"I think both quarterbacks have played well enough where we haven't really been in pads, we haven't played any games yet, haven't really gotten to that point yet," Monken claimed. "Every day I kind of lean one way or the other...But I'm fired up on the quarterbacks. I just tell you, we got two starting-level quarterbacks, we really do."
The Browns' quarterback battle
One of the main storylines from the offseason thus far has been the current quarterback battle between Watson and Sanders heading into the 2026 season. In 2025, the Browns decided to roll out a combination of veteran Joe Flacco and 2025 third-round pick Dillon Gabriel before Sanders took over in the second half during the team's Week 12 contest against the Baltimore Ravens .
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Despite his struggles in his NFL debut, Sanders would eventually become the starting quarterback in Cleveland for the remainder of the 2025 season. The rookie playmaker finished the year with 1,400 passing yards, 10 interceptions, and seven touchdowns, while also completing 56.6 percent of his attempts in seven and a half games.
However, while Sanders showed some glimpses of promise throughout the course of his rookie season, the return of Watson complicated the 24-year-old's campaign to become the starting quarterback in 2026. Watson, who signed a fully guaranteed 5-year, $230 million deal with the Browns back in 2022, has fully recovered from an Achilles tear he suffered during the 2024 NFL season.
While the former three-time bowler has yet to live up to his record-breaking contract, many believed that the Browns could roll out Watson in Week One to see if the struggling organization could receive some return on their investment.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns' HC Todd Monken makes bold claim about current QB battle
