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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders will have to remain “hungry.”
Shedeur Sanders will need to keep leaning into his “Hungry Dawg” mentality if he wants to emerge and win the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback job.
The Browns currently have Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel under contract for next season, with the front office expected to explore additional options through free agency, the draft, or potential trades as it continues to evaluate the position.
Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com isn’t certain how new head coach Todd Monken plans to handle the quarterback hierarchy, but believes the veteran offensive mind sees value in maintaining a level of uncertainty — and urgency — throughout the room.
“It remains to be seen if he’d want to conduct an open competition in camp or name his QB1 heading in and give him most of the starting reps,” Cabot said. “At this point, Sanders has a chance to win the job, but Monken is also intrigued by Watson and curious to see what he might have left. I do think they like the idea of keeping their QBs hungry to win the job.”
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Feels He Can ‘Dominate’
For Sanders, that approach means nothing will be handed to him and everything will have to be earned. That’s nothing new for the former fifth-round pick, who had to slowly climb his way up the depth chart last season.
Sanders opened last season buried on the depth chart, but his opportunity eventually arrived. After Joe Flacco was traded away and Gabriel was sidelined with a concussion, Sanders stepped into the lineup and made the most of his chance. He started the final seven games, went 3-4, and flashed some significant upside. In all, Sanders passed for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
With the experience of his rookie season under his belt, Sanders is confident he can continue to trend upward in a big way.
“You can see it. It’s kind of like mastering how to get to that place all the time,” Sanders said on the Up & Adams show. “You have flashes. That’s the most thing I appreciate about this year is that I proved to myself, I’m able to dominate the league. But I’m able to take completions, I’m able to put all of that together, and definitely in games, we have flashes, but I know I’m capable of doing that. Now, to do it on a consistent basis, that’s what the goal is. But for me in this past season, that’s what proved to myself. No matter what happened, no matter anything that transpired, you are able to go out there and compete.”
Browns May Have Legitimate Interest in Playing Deshaun Watson
As it stands, Sanders’ main competition for the starting role will be Watson. The former Pro Bowler is heading into the final year of his contract. After missing all of last year recovering from an Achilles injury, he has the attention of Monken.
“You’ve got two young players that still have a long way to go in terms of development, and that’s part of the learning curve in the NFL,” Monken said of Dillon Gabriel and Sanders. “And then you’ve got a player like Deshaun, who’s coming back from injury and at one time was a Pro Bowl player, and an elite player in this league, that we would love to tap back into that, let alone with Dillon and Shedeur.”
On paper, Monken’s statement makes a lot of sense. The problem is that Watson has played in just 19 games with the Browns since a 2022 blockbuster trade, missing time due to a lengthy suspension and multiple season-ending injuries. He’s passed for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions — a far cry from what he did before arriving in Cleveland.
J.R. DeGroote JR DeGroote is a staff writer for Heavy.com, where he has covered the NFL, NBA, and trending sports stories since 2019. His work focuses on some of the most passionate fanbases in sports, including reporting on the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Lakers. More about J.R. DeGroote
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