Browns’ Todd Monken reveals bold Deshaun Watson ceiling bet that could push Shedeur Sanders out originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken chose Deshaun Watson over Shedeur Sanders by chasing ceiling, and six games into the 2026 season, the offense looks like that wager.
Speaking on Ryan Clark’s podcast “The Pivot,” Monken said his staff measured both quarterbacks by their peak snaps. Sanders produced highlights of his own, he said, “but we just saw a little bit more from Deshaun at the top end.”
“I think you try to look at what a player’s best is and then try to minimize the weaknesses,” Monken said.
That logic explains both halves of Cleveland’s 4-2 start. Watson has now led four drives that put the Browns ahead late in games, precisely the peak plays Monken was buying. The floor surfaced against Baltimore, when Cleveland gained 46 net yards and punted on five straight possessions before halftime, then edged the Ravens 13-10 to grab first place in the AFC North.
Monken settled on Watson on Aug. 24 after weighing offseason workouts, training camp, a joint session with Buffalo and two exhibition games. Sanders finished last season as the starter and went 3-4 in seven games.
Watson was coming off two Achilles surgeries, carrying a $230 million guaranteed contract and facing fans still angry over the se*ual as*ault accusations, his league suspension and the draft capital Cleveland spent to land him.
Shedeur Sanders’ Trade Market Hinges on the Same Peak-Play Test
In Monken’s telling, one of Watson’s biggest moments came before a snap. Ahead of the Week 4 game against Pittsburgh, the Browns introduced him last out of the tunnel, and a crowd that had booed him roared instead.
“They want good football. They want our players to play well,” Monken said.
Cleveland beat the Steelers 27-24 after a scoring march in the final stretch flipped the lead.
Against Baltimore, Watson found Jerry Jeudy for 33 yards on a 10-play, 62-yard possession that ended with Andre Szmyt’s game-winning field goal. Monken pinned the slow starts on himself and his offensive staff while backing his quarterback’s instincts.
“But he’s just got something in him, the ability to make a play when needed,” he said. “We’re always under construction.”
The ceiling standard also frames what comes next for Sanders. He hired an agent earlier this month, a move widely read as a step toward leaving, with the trade deadline under three weeks away.
Yet the evaluation that kept him on the bench is the same one rival front offices would run, and Sanders has had no chance this season to display the progress he made in camp. With little outside demand so far, a deal won’t come easily. Monken’s offense gets its next chance to raise its floor Sunday at Tennessee, where the 1-5 Titans are waiting.
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