Shedeur Sanders Not Playing in Browns' Preseason Finale Explained by Todd Monken After QB1 Snub

Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters on Tuesday that Shedeur Sanders won't play in the team's preseason finale on Thursday, saying they want to give extended playing time to Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green.

Monken also said that Deshaun Watson was the clear frontrunner for the starting position in the spring but Sanders made it a competition with his play over the summer.

Watson was officially, and somewhat shockingly, named the team's starter on Monday.

Neither Watson or Sanders were exactly brilliant during the first two preseason games:

Player	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT
Deshaun Watson	16/27	162	0	1
Shedeur Sanders	15/22	153	1	2

But history suggests that Watson has little room for growth. Since joining the Browns in 2022 he's thrown for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 19 games, taking 70 sacks while completing 61.2 percent of his passes. The Browns are 9-10 in his starts.

Sanders is more of an unknown, though his rookie season was rough after he threw for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games (seven starts), taking 23 sacks while completing just 56.6 percent of his passes. The Browns went 3-4 in his starts.

One line of thinking is that the Browns probably should determine once and for all what they have in Sanders, especially since they have two first-round picks ahead of the 2027 draft, which is expected to have a strong quarterback class. It's hard to do that when he's sitting on the bench.

But Monken is a first-year head coach who wants to make a strong initial impression, and picking the veteran quarterback is normally the safer bet. The issue in this case is that Watson has never been good in Cleveland and was awful in his second preseason appearance. Choosing him as the starter certainly feels like a predetermined choice.

Regardless, the pecking order has been set. Nobody will be surprised if Sanders ultimately takes over as the starter at some point in the regular season, however.