There’s a conundrum to the question of who will be quarterback for the Cleveland Browns: There’s a new coaching staff.
The staff that gave Shaddell Sanders seven starts last season when Sanders was a rookie is gone. Todd Monken, who served as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator last season, has been hired as Cleveland’s new head coach.
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There’s still a full offseason ahead when it comes to acquiring new players via trade, free agency or the draft. Cleveland’s quarterback landscape could be changing. But Monken had positive words for Sanders when he met with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday.
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“I think what you’re seeing is elite playmaking ability,” Monken said at the combine. “That’s what he is. You’ve seen it, we’ve seen it, you’ve seen it in college and you saw it on tape last year. There’s certainly a long way to go, but what rookie doesn’t? What first-year player doesn’t have a long way to go? I’m excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players.”
After a highly publicized draft bust, Sanders had an up-and-down performance as a rookie. He had seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and general manager Andrew Berry noted at the combine on Tuesday that he must cut down on turnovers.
Shaddell Sanders will be part of the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition this offseason. (Photo by Dylan Burr/Getty Images)
(Dylan Burr via Getty Images)
That development, along with the Browns’ offseason moves, could determine whether Sanders gets more starts next season. Monken said he doesn’t think it’s necessarily important to add more quarterbacks this offseason, but he said the team will do its due diligence on the position.
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Currently, the team’s three options appear to be Sanders, 2025 rookie Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson, with the team refusing to rule them out as an option.
“I think any time there’s a player who has shown elite-level skills in the past, I think you’re always going to give them the benefit of the doubt that we might be able to get that out of him again in some way,” Monken said of Watson.
It’s not a great quarterback space, but the Browns also don’t have a good path to adding a better rookie quarterback in the draft, and free-agent options are limited.
If the Browns don’t make a change at the quarterback position, they clearly don’t have a leader at the moment to start next season.
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“Certainly, I think it’s an open competition,” Monken said. “I don’t know why it wouldn’t be an open game, and I don’t mean to say that harshly. But I don’t think there’s enough in the film over the last few years that says one way or another, ‘Boy, we have a starting quarterback.'”
The Browns will evaluate players on the roster during offseason workouts, and Monken said he hopes to identify a starter in training camp. But now, he doesn’t know if he can confirm his starting lineup by then.
“You want that to be the case, you want that when you get to training camp, the reps you give your quarterback are your starters,” Monken said. “I don’t know if we can get there. That will be decided in the offseason.”
