Todd Monken Refused to Say Deshaun Watson Beat Out Shedeur Sanders. That Says a Lot on Its Own.
Todd Monken is not going to name a starting quarterback in August. He is definitely not going to name one in a press conference where he thinks a reporter is trying to trap him.
On Monday, a Cleveland reporter tried to get the first-year Browns head coach to confirm a report that Deshaun Watson had been outperforming Shedeur Sanders in camp. Monken cut the question off mid-sentence.
“Oh, I don’t think I said he’s better than Shedeur,” Monken responded. “I’m not sure I went that far, but I appreciate you trying to trap me in that s**t.”
That is a fun quote. It also tells you exactly where the Browns are with this quarterback situation, which is: nowhere close to a decision, and very aware that everything they say publicly is going to shape a young player’s confidence.
Why this is not a simple decision
Deshaun Watson is a 30-year-old veteran with the fully guaranteed $230 million contract Cleveland gave him in 2022. He has appeared in just 19 games in three seasons because of injuries and league discipline. He has thrown for 1,186 yards and 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in that limited work. That is not the return the Browns bargained for.
Shedeur Sanders is the flashy second-year quarterback out of Colorado, drafted in the third round after a long slide in 2025. He is 23 years old, he is Deion Sanders’ son, and he is the more popular option in the fan base by a wide margin. Sanders showed enough as a rookie to make people think there is a real player there.
On paper, this looks like it should be Shedeur’s job. In reality, the Browns owe Watson a lot of money and have no easy way to release him. If they can salvage anything from his contract, they have to at least see if he can play. That means giving him a real shot in camp. That means telling reporters, on the record, that no decision has been made.
The trap Monken saw coming
The reporter’s question was smart. If Monken had confirmed that Watson had been better than Sanders, that quote would have been the top story on every Cleveland show for a week. Sanders’ camp would have leaked stuff. Fans would have organized boycotts. Kevin Stefanski’s ghost would have haunted the building.
By snapping the answer off before it could take shape, Monken kept the story exactly where he wanted it: unsettled, unofficial, and boring. That is a coaching skill people do not talk about enough. Managing the narrative around a quarterback competition is 40 percent of the job in a market like Cleveland.
The reality of the depth chart
You do not need Monken to spell it out. You just need to watch how the Browns are handling this. If Sanders had already won the job, they would not be running two quarterbacks with the ones. Sanders is getting real reps because he is in the mix. Watson is getting real reps because he has to be given a fair shot. That is not a mystery.
The reasons Cleveland should go with Watson, at least at first, are financial. The reasons they should go with Sanders are, well, everything else. Sanders is cheaper, younger, healthier, and has more upside. He is also the guy every wing in the building wants to see play. When the Browns lose a couple of games in September with Watson under center, the calls to start Sanders are going to be immediate and loud.
Monken’s job is to have his answer ready before that day comes. He knows it. That is why he shut the question down. This QB battle is going to run until the very last minute of preseason, and probably into Week 1. Cleveland is going to try to squeeze every ounce of value from Watson’s contract, and Sanders is going to sit until he can’t be ignored anymore.
That is not fun. But that is the reality of paying a quarterback $230 million and then hoping the young kid you drafted for practically nothing turns out to be the real answer.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
