PHOENIX – As the Browns prepare for a quarterback competition heading into the 2026 season, head coach Todd Monken plans to utilize the on-field reps to create a fair and open competition.
But Monken said he does not expect those reps to be divided evenly among the quarterbacks in the room. The number of reps can change daily for each quarterback as the offseason and training camp continues.
"I think there's always competition irrespective of the number of reps a player gets," Monken said at the AFC coaches breakfast at the NFL Annual Meeting. "The number of reps a player gets doesn't eliminate competition. It's just in a given day, let's say for instance, you want to see a quarterback with the first group, the second group, the third group. Well, are you going to divide those reps up evenly? Are you going to divide up the reps everywhere evenly? I don't see it that way. That doesn't mean there's not competition. I just see it as in a given day, and it'll be daily in terms of who gets what reps and when, because we certainly want to allocate our reps to the players we feel like are going to give us the best chance to win."
Currently, the Browns quarterback room consists of Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson. Gabriel appeared in 10 games with six starts during his rookie season, in which he completed 110 of 185 passing attempts for 937 yards and seven touchdowns. Sanders appeared in eight games with seven starts, throwing for 120 of 212 passing attempts for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns. Watson is returning from a season-ending Achilles injury that he sustained in Week 7 of the 2024 season and later caused him to miss the 2025 season after a re-rupture to his Achilles tendon.
The Browns can begin to hold a voluntary workout program on April 7 to kick off the offseason programs. That is the first day the Browns can also begin working with their quarterbacks. Monken added they will hold another voluntary minicamp during the week of the draft.
In the early stages of the voluntary workout programs, Monken and the coaching staff can gauge where participating quarterbacks are from a physical and mental standpoint. Then, when they enter Phase 3 and minicamps, they can begin to evaluate where each quarterback stands before moving into the final piece of training camp and the preseason.
All phases will play an essential role in the ultimate decision for the starting quarterback. Monken explained one of the hopes coming out of the spring would be to have an early version of a depth chart.
"That doesn't mean there's still not competition," Monken said. "But I do think you have to narrow the reps or at least balance up the reps of who you anticipate has to come out of the spring, certainly in a position to be a starter."
As Monken and the coaching staff split up the reps for the quarterbacks, he said they will use data from where the 2025 season ended and other past information about the quarterbacks. They will also rely on performance of each quarterback during the different stages of the offseason to not only determine daily reps but also factor into a decision to come.
"On any given day, you're flexible in that," Monken said. "Just like the practice schedule itself is always flexible. You could ask me about a practice schedule, and we could change that tomorrow. That's not written in stone. How players compete, how they approach their job and their everyday diligence, that's non-negotiable. But how we do things, the number of reps we get, that's an everyday decision."
