Shedeur Sanders Bought Browns Coach Todd Monken the Strangest Birthday Gift

New Browns coach Todd Monken hit the ground running at the NFL combine this week, where he has, of course, received a fair share of questions regarding soon-to-be second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Sanders, as you might recall, endured an unprecedented slide in the 2025 draft, then went on to finish his freshman NFL season as the Browns' starting QB. While he didn't play well enough to guarantee him the job moving forward, he did show enough to be optimistic about. Now, with Deshaun Watson poised to return from injury, everyone wants to know if Sanders will hold onto the starting gig, or if Watson (or a 2026 rookie) might unseat him.

Monken, for his part, has handled the discourse well. And he seems to be bonding nicely with the former Colorado signal-caller off the field, too.

"I've talked to [Sanders] three times, I think, he's come in to see me," Monken told CBS Sports this week. "In fact, for my birthday, I got this package. Like, all of a sudden, Feb. 5, this package comes. I thought it was from my wife. ... Open it up, it's this porcelain horse head. And it's from Shedeur. He sent me a gift on my birthday.

"And I asked him, 'What was the meaning?' And he said, 'Well, I just really liked it. I got myself one.' I said, 'Well, great. Awesome.'"

As the CBS Sports reporters then pointed out, a horse head does call to mind some unsavory images from The Godfather. But Monken paid no mind to that.

"I put it between all the Cleveland helmets and put it up there for him to see when he comes in the office," the coach said of the head.

Take a peek at that funny moment below:

He bought what? pic.twitter.com/SK701Z9T9m
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) February 26, 2026

Unique, for sure, but hey—it's the thought that counts. Plus, who doesn't love a birthday gift?

As for the much-discussed QB competition in Cleveland, Monken said he can't make a decision yet because he simply hasn't seen enough from any of the quarterbacks to do so.

"I don't think there's enough of a sample size recently with any of our candidates to be our starting quarterback, be it Dillon [Gabriel], Deshaun or Shedeur, that you can say, 'That's our starter.' You just can't," Monken explained.

"There were times in the back half of the year where you said, 'Boy, Shedeur Sanders looks like a starting NFL quarterback.' And you can go as far back as just a year ago or maybe two years ago, where you said, 'Boy, there's signs that Deshaun Watson is really playing at an elite level.' And then Dillon, who did it at three different colleges ... there's a lot to work with there."

He also said it's "possible" the team adds to the QB room in the draft, but noted that that's really the case with any position.

It's certainly a situation to watch, and one we'll hear a lot about in the coming months. But whatever Monken decides, at least he and Shedeur will always have their matching horses. And that's a bond that just means more.

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