Browns stick with Shedeur Sanders
- Cleveland used the No. 182 pick on Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green, then said it will carry a four-man competition with Shedeur Sanders still in it. - Coach Todd Monken said every quarterback will compete but not get equal reps, after Sanders and Deshaun Watson split first-team work at minicamp. - Green is viewed as a developmental passer, not an immediate starter, after Cleveland rebuilt its offense in the draft. (espn.com)
The Browns added another quarterback in the 2026 draft, but they did not close the door on Shedeur Sanders. (espn.com) Cleveland took Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green with the first pick of the sixth round, No. 182 overall, on April 25. General manager Andrew Berry said afterward the Browns plan to move forward with a four-quarterback room. (espn.com) (nfl.com) That room now includes Sanders, Deshaun Watson, Dillon Gabriel and Green. ESPN reported the competition is open, with Sanders and Gabriel both drafted by Cleveland in 2025. (espn.com) (clevelandbrowns.com) Monken gave the clearest signal on how the race will work after the draft. He said every player on the roster will compete, but “that doesn't mean equal reps,” and added that “there has to be some form of a depth chart.” (espn.com) At the Browns’ only voluntary veteran minicamp practice open to reporters last week, Sanders and Watson split all of the first-team reps. ESPN said that happened before Green entered the room. (espn.com) Berry’s public evaluation of Green also framed him as a project more than an instant challenger. Berry called him a player with “rare physical gifts” who still needs “some polish” in his game. (espn.com) (nfl.com) Green’s athletic profile is unusual even by quarterback standards. At 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds, he ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the combine, with a 43.5-inch vertical and an 11-foot-2 broad jump. (espn.com) (nfl.com) The Browns also used the rest of the 2026 draft to load up on offense under first-year coach Todd Monken. ESPN counted eight offensive players in Cleveland’s 10-man class, including three linemen, two receivers and two tight ends. (espn.com) That matters because Cleveland has scored the fewest points in the National Football League over the past two seasons, according to ESPN. The draft was built to raise the floor around whichever quarterback wins the job. (espn.com) Sanders entered the league as the No. 144 pick in 2025 after a college career that included 7,364 passing yards, 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions over his final two seasons at Colorado. Berry called him a “highly accurate pocket passer” on draft day last year. (clevelandbrowns.com) So the Browns’ message after drafting Green was not that Sanders is out. It was that Cleveland is keeping the competition open, with a depth chart to come and no promise of equal turns. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2)
