Three QBs, One Job, Zero Answers: The Browns' Weirdest Quarterback Battle Ever

Only the Cleveland Browns could have three quarterbacks on the roster and somehow have fewer answers than when they started.

Voluntary workouts kick off Monday in Berea. Todd Monken gets his first real look at the guys. And what he's inheriting is genuinely one of the strangest QB situations in NFL history. Let's break down this beautiful mess.

Quarterback #1: Deshaun Watson — $46 Million and a Prayer

Let's start with the elephant in the room. Deshaun Watson is owed $46 million guaranteed this season. That's the largest cap hit in the entire NFL. For a guy who hasn't played a full game since October 2024. That's eighteen months ago.

Two Achilles injuries. A shoulder problem. Thirty-three sacks in his last six games when he was supposedly healthy. And GM Andrew Berry is out here at the combine saying there's "no rule against extending" Watson's contract if he earns it. Adam Schefter says it "feels like it's moving toward" Watson starting. NFL Network says he's got the "pole position."

Cleveland, I need you to hear me: the pole position means nothing if you can't finish the race. And Watson hasn't finished anything in a Browns uniform except his own reputation.

Owner Jimmy Haslam wants to give him a "fresh start" under Monken. Cool. But a fresh start doesn't fix two torn Achilles tendons. It doesn't erase three and a half years of being the most expensive disappointment in franchise history—and that's saying something for THIS franchise.

Quarterback #2: Shedeur Sanders — The Fifth-Round Steal?

Here's where it gets interesting. Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round of the 2025 draft. Most people wrote him off. Then he stepped in during Week 12 when Dillon Gabriel got concussed, and he just... looked like he belonged.

Three starts. 3-4 record overall. But the kid was composed. He completed 16 of 25 in one game for 149 yards and a touchdown with zero picks. He didn't try to do too much. He didn't panic. He looked like a quarterback who could actually manage an NFL offense without setting it on fire.

And right now? He's in the building grinding. Posting workout clips. Doing footwork drills before the voluntary program even starts. Berry said it himself: "He grew a lot from Start 1 to Start 7." That's the kind of praise that tells you the front office sees something.

The question isn't whether Sanders has potential. It's whether the Browns have the guts to bet on it over a $46 million albatross.

Quarterback #3: Dillon Gabriel — The Forgotten Man

Remember Dillon Gabriel? Third-round pick? Started six straight games before the concussion? The guy who was supposed to be the bridge to the future before Sanders leapfrogged him?

Gabriel's healthy now. He's still on the roster. And nobody's really talking about him. Berry mentioned him as someone who "could be among the group competing," which in NFL-speak translates to "he's the third guy but we're being polite about it."

Don't sleep on him completely, though. Monken's whole thing is developing quarterbacks. If Gabriel shows something in OTAs that catches his eye, this three-way race could get even messier. But realistically? This is Watson vs. Sanders, and Gabriel knows it.

The Todd Monken Wild Card

Here's the one thing that makes this circus potentially worth watching: Todd Monken doesn't care about your contract. He doesn't care about your draft position. He doesn't care that Jimmy Haslam gave Watson a $230 million guaranteed deal. Monken cares about what he sees on the field.

He replaced Kevin Stefanski, and his entire reputation is built on developing quarterbacks and building offenses that let them cook. He did it at Georgia. He did it at Baltimore. If anyone can figure out what Shedeur Sanders can really be—or squeeze one last useful season out of Watson's damaged body—it's this guy.

When those voluntary workouts start Monday, Monken's evaluation begins for real. And that evaluation matters more than anything Berry, Schefter, or Haslam says right now.

The Yodanehoda Take

Here's what SHOULD happen: a real competition. Not the fake "open competition" where the expensive guy wins by default because ownership doesn't want to admit they wasted $230 million. An actual, genuine, best-man-wins battle.

If Watson comes back and stomps everybody out in training camp—wire to wire, no injuries, no excuses—then fine. Start him. But if it's close? If it's 50/50 between a 31-year-old coming off two Achilles tears who took 33 sacks in his last six starts and a second-year kid who showed real promise on a fifth-round salary?

You go with the future. Every. Single. Time.

The Browns have picks at #6, #24, and #39 in the draft. They've got Myles Garrett anchoring the defense. The foundation is there for something real. Don't let a sunk cost and an owner's ego ruin it.

Three QBs. One job. Zero answers. Welcome to Cleveland.