The Cleveland Browns wrapped up their final minicamp of the offseason this week and headed off into the summer break.
Everyone will return to Berea in late July for the first training camp under head coach Todd Monken, who will spend the next five weeks or so pondering the most unenviable question that a head coach can face.
Who will he turn to as the team’s starting quarterback?
But in a twist that reveals just where the Browns are in 2026, the question is one where the answer really does not matter.
Monken previously stated he hoped to have a decision made by now, but as the club went through weeks of Organized Team Activities and minicamps, the options remained as unappealing as ever.
Should it be:
- Veteran Deshaun Watson, who has started just 19 games in four seasons with the Browns, suffered two major injuries and had his last good season in 2020?
- Second-year player Shedeur Sanders, who is coming off a rookie season that was statistically one of the worst the NFL has seen from a first-year quarterback in the past 25 years?
- Second-year player Dillon Gabriel, the forgotten man in the quarterback room, who started six games as a rookie and performed just as well (or just as poorly, depending on how you look at it) as Sanders?
- Rookie Taylen Green, just for fun?
Monken has likely made the decision already and is now waiting to see how his preferred choice looks after a few training camp practices in pads to confirm or deny his belief. No matter who ultimately “wins” the competition, this being the Browns and quarterbacks, everyone in the room who is still on the roster will see playing time at some point this fall.
Monken will never admit that, of course, as the head coach needs to present a positive message to the public that everything will work out for the best. But there was one quote from his meeting with the press on Thursday that does provide a bit of hope that Monken is trying to make the best of the situation.
When asked how much public perception – either good or bad – over the quarterback being the “face of the franchise” will weigh into the decision about the starting quarterback, Monken said the exact right thing:
“I don’t care. Whoever gives us the best chance to score, and I won’t know that till we play. We don’t know this now in shorts, and we may not know it until we play in the preseason games. And even then, there’s no guarantee of who you’re playing against. The matchups are not always equal. You can decide you’re playing their ones and they’re not.
“So ultimately, we take all the information in the offseason and then training camp and then the preseason game of practice and then let it rip.”
If it is a quarterback who is unpopular with the fans (Watson), a quarterback with a rabid and delusional national fanbase (Sanders), or one who will have fans running to the liquor cabinet (Gabriel), Monken says he is going with the player he believes is the best option.
The sad part is that it doesn’t really matter who Monken chooses.
But at least he will be choosing the quarterback for the right reasons.
