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The 2026 NFL regular-season schedule was released last week, and the Browns will open on Sept. 13 in Jacksonville as early 7.5-point underdogs – the second-biggest Week 1 spread. Which quarterback will be under center for Cleveland among a potential four-man competition between Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green? FanDuel offers odds.

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I can’t think of another recent quarterback battle that is so truly fascinating yet utterly uninteresting as those four guys going at it. Clearly, it’s going to be another long NFL season in Cleveland, this time under first-year head coach Todd Monken – the former offensive coordinator of the AFC North-rival Baltimore Ravens.

The Browns have lost at least 12 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2015-17 and have a projected win total of 6.5 this season, with the Under at -125. For the league’s fewest wins and the chance to pick first atop the 2027 NFL Draft, which is generally considered loaded with franchise QBs, the Browns are +1300. They shouldn’t be that bad with such a good defense led by Myles Garrett.

Monken is the team’s 11th head coach since 1999, second-most in the league over that span behind the Raiders’ 13. On Sept. 13, the 60-year-old Monken will become only the eighth non-interim head coach in NFL history to coach his first career game at 60-plus years old. It didn’t go all that great for all the others career-wise. The last was David Culley in 2021 with Houston, and he lasted just one 4-13 campaign.

Frankly, most believe whichever QB starts Week 1 and/or is the primary in 2026 is simply holding the seat warm for whichever signal-caller the Browns draft high in 2027 like an Arch Manning out of Texas or Dante Moore from Oregon. 

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The rookie Green, a sixth-round dual-threat out of Oregon, is the +8000 longshot to start vs. the Jags, and if he does then Green is the next Lamar Jackson or something went badly wrong for Cleveland. The 6-foot-6 Green (+15000 for Offensive Rookie of the Year) is an athlete, that’s for sure. At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, he weighed 227 pounds and ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash, a combine record for quarterbacks. Simply making the roster would be a win.

The southpaw Gabriel (+5500 to start Week 1) was Cleveland’s first QB chosen in the 2025 draft at No. 94 overall in Round 3. Gabriel got into 10 games overall and six as a starter, going 1-5, and completed 59.5% of his throws for 937 yards, seven TDs and two picks.

Gabriel’s 31.4 QBR ranked 37th out of 38 NFL quarterbacks who started at least six games in 2025. Who ranked 38th? Sanders, whose QBR of 18.9 was the fifth-lowest of all quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts in the QBR era (since 2006), per ESPN.

Sanders (+136) was the surprise the 144th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft and opened the year as the No. 4 QB on the depth chart but started the final seven games for Cleveland, going 3-4 and winning the final two. Sanders, who threw an NFL-high 10 picks since his Week 11 debut, wore No. 12 as a rookie but has switched back to the No. 2 that he wore in college. That number was taken in 2025 by Browns wideout DeAndre Carter.

I think we all know enough about Watson (-174) by now, and if he wasn’t on the worst contract in NFL history in terms of fully guaranteed money, then Watson would have been released a long time ago. But owner Jimmy Haslam, who has admitted the sunk cost on that horrendous trade from a few years ago with Houston, has mentioned that Watson has a “great chance” and a “fresh start” with Monken.

Watson, who hasn’t played a game since Oct. 20, 2024, participated in the Browns’ offseason workouts and has no limitations following his Achilles’ tear. Per the Browns beat writers, Watson emerged from minicamp in April with an edge over Sanders for the job even though Watson’s 33.1 Total QBR would rank last among qualifying quarterbacks since he made his debut in Cleveland in 2022. He has been limited to a total of 19 games in that span.

Watson is +2000 to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Cleveland’s first OTAs begin Tuesday and run through Thursday, so we may have some clarity as early as then. The team’s mandatory minicamp is June 9-11. Monken has mentioned that he wants to have a starting quarterback identified before training camp. 

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