{"id":851998,"date":"2026-04-03T21:26:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T21:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851998\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T21:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T21:26:23","slug":"new-favorite-for-cleveland-browns-starting-qb-job-emerging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851998\/","title":{"rendered":"New favorite for Cleveland Browns starting QB job emerging"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though the NFL<\/a> is headed toward the 2026 NFL Draft, teams may already have answers to some questions on their rosters. Most importantly, the starting quarterback position remains at the forefront.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a team that knows about those questions, it\u2019s the Cleveland Browns. They\u2019ve had a long list of starting quarterbacks since their return in 1999.<\/p>\n

MORE: New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has a unique approach to scouting<\/a><\/p>\n

However, new head coach Todd Monken has gone on record stating that he likes the players currently on the roster. After Deshaun Watson was rumored to be the leading candidate, a new name is emerging.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throws a pass in the first quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

New clubhouse leader?<\/p>\n

Reports<\/a> indicate that Monken is impressed with Shedeur Sanders\u2019 work ethic, and it\u2019s believed he is now in the driver\u2019s seat. Sanders took over late last season in a putrid quarterback room.<\/p>\n

Dillon Gabriel and Watson reportedly haven\u2019t been at the facility much, if at all. Sanders, on the other hand, has been there almost daily.<\/p>\n

Watson was recently praised by the front office and ownership at the annual league meetings in Phoenix. Jimmy Haslam even indicated that the \u201cswing and miss\u201d could turn into a home run.<\/p>\n

MORE: 2026 NFL First-Round Mock Draft 3.0<\/a><\/p>\n

Sanders has been a fan favorite despite his draft status. Once thought of as a first-round pick, he saw a significant drop in his projected stock.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) watches quarterback Dillon Gabriel (5) during day two of rookie minicamp May 10, 2025, in Berea, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Sanders watched Gabriel, Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, and even Tyler Shough get picked well before him. Some fans called it sabotage by the NFL, despite the fact that there hasn\u2019t been a legitimate argument to support that claim.<\/p>\n

Sanders underwhelmed in his limited opportunities, but this is also the Browns. They have lacked any real stability since before Tom Brady entered the NFL.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time since the Browns have had consistency at quarterback. Can Sanders prove his draft tumble was a fluke and claim the starting job?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even though the NFL is headed toward the 2026 NFL Draft, teams may already have answers to some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,6,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-851998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-shedeur-sanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116342897245451633","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}