Shedeur Sanders Gaining Ground in Browns Quarterback Battle

Could Shedeur Sanders be gaining momentum in Cleveland's quarterback competition following the Myles Garrett trade?

Shedeur Sanders answers media questions at the end of the Browns mini camp in Berea on April 21, 2026. | Lisa Scalfaro / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Everything about the Cleveland Browns’ ongoing quarterback competition feels up in the air after OTAs.

Early in the spring, reports from cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler had Deshaun Watson ahead of Shedeur Sanders going into OTAs. Browns head coach Todd Monken has repeated that in a perfect world, Cleveland would know their starting quarterback when the team breaks from mandatory veteran minicamp next week.

But after watching eight OTA sessions, Monken admitted he’s still uncertain about the quarterback position. And that could play into Sanders’ favor. 

“In a perfect world you’d love to have your starting quarterback, and you’d love to have your o-line set, I’m just not sure we’ll be there,” Monken said on Wednesday.

A few weeks ago, Monken used the word "embarrassing" to describe interceptions thrown in seven-on-seven settings without a pass rush. That problem hasn’t improved. On Wednesday, Watson threw an interception to undrafted free agent cornerback Michael Coats Jr. in the end zone. Sanders has shown more flashes, like Wednesday’s highlight throw to Isaiah Bond, but also some inconsistencies of his own. 

“Shedeur has really come on, I thought he had a really good day today,” Monken said.

Here's what Todd Monken said about this big throw from Shedeur Sanders to Isaiah Bond at OTAs:

"It's a piece of the practice. I think Isaiah Bond has come on the last week in a half... Shedeur has really come on. I thought he had a really good day today..." https://t.co/URzpRuH52K pic.twitter.com/7NhnvPgOfc

— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) June 3, 2026

Shedeur Sanders can't be counted out yet

Sanders was getting a bulk of the reps with the first-team offense on Wednesday. He was the first quarterback up in both of the team’s 11-on-11 competitive sessions.

“I thought both of those guys continue to compete,” Monken told reporters on Wednesday. “And you saw today we’ve been alternating those guys.”

Perhaps the Browns reworked some of their calculus on how they’re viewing Watson and Sanders following the team’s blockbuster trade of Myles Garrett. 

While Monken is going to start whichever quarterback he believes will give him the best chance to win Week 1, it was obvious that Sanders received a bulk of the reps with the starters in the first practice open to the media following Garrett’s trade. 

The organization is moving towards a youth movement, swapping Garrett for 25-year-old EDGE Jared Verse. Again, that benefits Sanders, who is more than six years younger than Watson. By using the same logic that the Browns used when they traded Garrett for Verse, Sanders fits the roster timeline better than Watson. 

Even though neither quarterback has jumped off the page yet, Monken said on Wednesday that they’ve both played well enough, leading him to believe that the Browns have two starting-caliber quarterbacks.

It’s likely that was a 60-year-old head coach really trying to sell the position group after another spring filled with incompletions. Or, perhaps this quarterback competition is really tightening up.

“Every day I kind of lean one way or the other,” Monken said about the QB competition. “Each day that changes, it just does.”