Shedeur Sanders seemingly approved the Cleveland Browns recently hired head coach Todd Monken. This revelation comes on the heels of a Browns fanbase and national media lamenting this hire. Monken was pegged as an afterthought or a “worst-case scenario” candidate. However, he’s the last man standing in the coaching search.
The offense, not the defense has been the issue. The offensive line got old, running back Nick Chubb (who spent 2025 with Houston) wasn’t the same after the Pittsburgh injury and the team has failed to bring in any receiver that scares defenses since the departure of Odell Beckham Jr and Jarvis Landry. Rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr was the team’s leading receiver.
Analysts and fans alike expected a young, innovative offensive mind to take over as head coach. Harbaugh was never an option, Tomlin will take time off, McDaniel chose an offensive coordinator job over a second Browns interview, and both up and comers Grant Udinski and Nate Scheelhaase chose other options.
Monken, who will turn 60 next month will be the Browns head coach in 2026. While there are plenty of reason for concern with him based on the perceived motivations when this search started, there are also reasons for optimism. For the former Colorado Buffaloes signal-caller at least.
The head coaching search was going to impact Sanders
Sanders was the biggest story in the NFL in 2025 that did not include title contending teams. That was true based in large part to his large established fanbase. Never in the history of the league was a fifth-round pick talked about as much as Shedeur.
A fanbase that consistently took aim at the Browns staff, most notably recently fired coach Kevin Stefanski. The prevailing opinion was that Stefanski was the direct impediment to Shedeur’s success.
When Stefanski was fired many Sanders fans celebrated that move, believing it would benefit Sanders. However, conventional wisdom does not agree. New coaches tend to want to bring in their guys and the late round pick with a seven-game sample size might not be what that coach had in mind. Unless there’s more to Monken’s roster motivations.
Directly after the 2025 NFL Draft it was revealed that the Browns were not the only team potentially interested in Sanders on Day 3. One of those teams was the Ravens, who considered drafting him three picks earlier at 141. A decision defended by Deion Sanders, Shedeur was not crazy about backing up Lamar Jackson for a decade.
While nothing has been confirmed, the prevailing belief is that it was Monken the Ravens OC-more so than John Harbaugh that wanted Sanders on the Ravens. If that is indeed the case, the hiring of Monken should bode well for Shedeur in 2026.
Not everyone is sold on Sanders’ future in Cleveland
There was one opinion that served as an outlier after Monken was hired. FOX Sports’ Emmanuel Acho questioned why Sanders should listen to his new coach. “If I’m Shedeur, why am I listening to Todd Monken? What have you won on an NFL level? One opinion, but he did coach Lamar Jackson with success in Baltimore.
Shedeur, who has spent the week in France with brother Shilo for Paris Fashion week, gave his response and possible endorsement of Monken via Instagram.
In that post, Shedeur included the official Browns released ‘welcome’ image showing Todd Monken as the new head coach. While adding “Time for work” and a fire emoji and a watch emoji (a reference to his song “Perfect Timing”).
The Browns enter this offseason with a quarterback room of Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson. With the sixth overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Fernando Mendoza is virtually off the board, and every other quarterback prospect has question marks. Coming off 7 wins in two seasons, Cleveland is unlikely to become a hot destination for free agent quarterbacks.
Whoever the coach was going to be was likely going to have to find a solution within the quarterback names on the current roster. The largest concern for Shedeur would be do they hire a coach that wants to develop Shedeur or do they hire a coach that wants to start over and bring in new quarterbacks.
The hiring of Monken should be perceived as good news for Sanders. Lamar Jackson won his second league MVP and had his best statistical passing season under Monken. The jury is still out on whether Monken was the correct hire, but for now, it’s at least good news in the short term for Sanders heading into his sophomore NFL season.
