PHOENIX — Reps for the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback competition won’t necessarily be evenly divided between Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel during the offseason workout program, coach Todd Monken said Tuesday.
Cleveland is set to begin its offseason workouts under Monken, a first-year head coach, on April 7.
“I wouldn’t say they’re going to be evenly dispersed, but we’ll definitely disperse them to give ourselves a chance to at least evaluate who we have on the roster, whoever that might be as we go through the offseason,” Monken said.
When asked how he will decide who takes the first starting reps, Monken said it would be based on “what we’ve seen in the past and where the year ended last year.”
Monken, though, stopped short of saying that Sanders, who started the final seven games of the season and went 3-4 as a starter, would begin offseason workouts taking the majority of the starting reps. He also indicated the share of reps could fluctuate over the course of the spring.
“You’d love to be able to come out of the spring with a depth chart,” Monken said. “That doesn’t mean there’s still not competition. But I do think you have to narrow the reps or at least balance up the reps of who you anticipate has come out of the spring certainly in a position to be a starter.”
Sanders, the 144th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, helped lead the Browns to wins in the final two games of the season. After beginning his NFL career at fourth on the depth chart, he had an up-and-down stint as Cleveland’s starter, recording the fifth-lowest QBR (18.9) among 696 quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts in the QBR era (since 2006).
Watson, who missed the entirety of the 2025 season because of an Achilles tear he sustained in October 2024, has only played in 19 games since the Browns traded three first-round picks and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract in March 2022. His 33.1 Total QBR would rank last among qualifying quarterbacks since he made his debut in Cleveland.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on Monday said Watson, 30, has a “great chance” and a “fresh start” with Monken, who spent the previous three seasons as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator.
Gabriel, the 94th pick in last year’s draft, started six games as a rookie before suffering a concussion that paved the way for Sanders to start. Gabriel’s 31.4 QBR ranked 37th out of 38 quarterbacks, only above Sanders, who started at least six games in 2025.
