Todd Monken Opens Door for Shedeur Sanders to Lose Browns’ Backup QB Job

The Cleveland Browns became one of the NFL’s most followed storylines through the offseason, when new head coach Todd Monken began his tenure by announcing a quarterback competition between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson back in February as one of his first big moves.

Watson ultimately came away as the winner of the battle when he was announced as the Browns’ starting quarterback for Week 1 in late August, sending Sanders back to the bench after leading the Browns to three wins over the the second half of last season while earning a shocking Pro Bowl nod in the process.

Now, it seems Monken has opened the door for Sanders to get leapfrogged as Watson’s backup, with the head coach discussing a potential package for sixth-round rookie Taylen Green on gameday.

During Monken’s press conference on Monday, the head coach responded to a direct question raising the possibility of using Green as the team’s backup for Week 1 against the Jaguars by stating: “Could be. There could be a package where we have him.”

When a followup question touched on potentially activating three quarterbacks on gameday, Monken didn’t hesitate to include Green as a distinct possibility in facing Jacksonville.

“That’s the word ‘possibly.’ It’s possible that we could use him in that.”

Would the Browns really consider using Taylen Green over Shedeur Sanders as backup quarterback?

Although unlikely, the chances of Monken designating Green as the Browns’ backup over Sanders aren’t zero.

First off, Watson will be playing his first official game since October of 2024 after returning from back-to-back Achilles’ tears. Cleveland can’t really afford to walk into Jacksonville or any other game expecting not to need a backup quarterback, given Watson’s injury history during his time with the franchise. As a Brown, he’s missed time due to a rotator cuff tear and scapula fracture, in addition to the Achilles’ issues.

Then, there’s the fact that Green was buried as the fourth passer on the Browns’ depth chart for the entirety of the offseason, behind Watson, Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. This means, practice reps were scarce for the rookie, as Watson and Sanders split up most of them while battling out who would be named the team’s starter.

The Browns decided to keep four quarterbacks for the season, with Gabriel being sent to the IR with designation to return. That would put Green momentarily as the third option. But deactivating Sanders to keep him as emergency quarterback would mean he wouldn’t be able to take any snaps unless Watson and Green get injured during the game. And activating three quarterbacks would mean losing an active player at another position.

Are the Browns really that starved at the skill positions where a package of plays for Green would be a necessity over an experienced backup in Sanders, and/or losing depth at another position? And how helpful would Green really be, with such limited reps in practice and alongside much more attractive offensive weapons such as Denzel Boston, KC Concepcion, Harold Fannin Jr., Jerry Jeudy, Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson?

Chances are Monken’s words are just typical coachspeak where nothing is ruled out, no matter how unlikely or counterproductive it might be.

Having said that, it’s the Cleveland Browns we’re talking about. This team took Watson from being a “swing and a miss” to the new/old “starting quarterback” in a matter of months, so nothing is really off the table at this point.

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