Todd Monken Takes Unconventional Path to Naming Browns Team Captains

As the regular season inches closer and closer, a number of NFL teams have spent the last few days announcing their team captains for the 2026 campaign.

The Cleveland Browns are not one of those teams.

Instead of going the traditional route of naming a number of players as team captains for the whole year, new head coach Todd Monken will take a different approach. The Browns will have rotating captains from week to week, choosing two guys from the offense, two guys from the defense and one off special teams for each matchup.

According to Monken, the unconventional strategy is due to the fact that the Browns currently have enough leaders on the team where having a low fixed number isn’t representative enough. Practice sessions throughout the week will help determine each game’s captains.

Todd Monken won't name captains for the Browns this year. Each week will be two different offensive, two different defensive, and one special teams captains.

"I think we have more leaders than five guys."
— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) September 7, 2026

“I think we have more leaders than five guys”.

One curious nugget about Monken’s decision is that, eventually, there should be 2026 permanent captains.

“It’ll vary week-to-week, and then at the end of the year, the players will vote on the permanent 2026 captains,” stated the head coach on Monday. “I just like it that way. I think we have a fairly young team. I’m not ready to name guys that are permanent for us. I do think it’s cool for players to go out for the coin toss, I think it’s really cool.

“I think most teams have more leaders than just four or five guys -- I just believe that. I believe that with each game you reward guys for the week that they’ve had, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Todd Monken names Browns’ captains for Week 1 game

Monken has already determined the five players that will act as Cleveland’s captains for their Week 1 road game against Jacksonville next Sunday.

As expected, quarterback Deshaun Watson is one of them, after taking the starting role after an offseason long battle with second-year pro Shedeur Sanders. The position battle between the two passers took up most of the headlines in Cleveland in the months since Monken was named the team’s head coach, following the dismissal of Kevin Stefanski.

With this approach to the team’s captaincy, Monken is making it clear he’s trying to do things his way.

Along with Watson, team captains for the Browns in Week 1 will be guard Zion Johnson -- a free agency addition this year --, defensive tackle Mason Graham, cornerback Tyson Campbell and long snapper Rex Sunahara.

The Browns will open the 2026 regular season on the road against the Jaguars, with a scheduled kickoff time of 1:00 p.m. ET set for Sunday at Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium.

Add us as a preferred source on Google