With the start of the Todd Monken era for the Cleveland Browns, attention has shifted to a quarterback battle that has been taking shape since the second half of last season. Rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders have emerged as the primary contenders for the QB1 role.
Gabriel opened the season as the starter, but an injury reshaped the depth chart and gave Sanders control of the offense for the remainder of the year. While the young quarterback appears to have gained momentum, the imminent return of Deshaun Watson has turned the competition into a three-way QB battle – with Gabriel potentially on the outside looking in.
Could there be a surprise in Cleveland’s QB race?
Reporter Mary Kay Cabot analyzed the situation and left the door open for an unexpected twist.
“It does seem like it’s a two-man race right now between Deshaun and Shedeur, but the Browns have not counted out Dillon Gabriel, and here is why I think he actually might make a little noise in this mini camp…He was thrown into a tough situation last season starting his first game in London then having to go to Pittsburgh and it was just a really, really difficult offense and not a very good supporting cast.”
Watson’s return adds another layer of uncertainty. The quarterback built his elite NFL reputation with the Houston Texans, earning Pro Bowl selections from 2018 to 2020 and leading the league in passing yards in 2020. In 2022, he joined Cleveland on a fully guaranteed $230 million contract, the largest of its kind at the time.
However, his tenure with the Browns has been marked by injuries and a suspension tied to misconduct allegations. He missed the entire 2025 NFL season after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Meanwhile, Sanders appeared in eight games last season, posting 1,400 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions with a 56.6% completion rate. During Browns minicamp, both he and Watson received first-team reps, aligning with Monken’s plan to evaluate every option.
“He was first man up,” Monken said of Sanders Tuesday afternoon per Yahoo Sports. “The way it was going to turn out, Shedeur was going to get more reps, some of it in [seven on seven] some of it in [11 on 11]. Team periods were slowed down [and] set up in a way for us to get a look at all of them.”
He added, “The plan was to have Shedeur get a few more reps but have Deshaun and Shedeur both have reps with the ones.”
In contrast, Gabriel did not receive any first-team snaps on the opening day of minicamp. Still, Monken pushed back against the idea that this is strictly a two-man race.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a two-man race,” he said. “I would just say that at every position, there’s competition. Irrespective of the reps they get, which I’ve said before, everybody ought to be competing.”
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