The Cleveland Browns have been in a brutal situation for essentially this entire century. Making the playoffs just three times in total, they haven’t been able to have any sort of continued success, especially at the quarterback spot.
They’re hoping their latest coaching change, replacing Kevin Stefanski with Todd Monken, can be the difference-maker. It remains to be seen if that can finally fix the franchise, but the new head coach clearly believes he has the answers.
Todd Monken Has a Simple Solution for the Browns
Even though they’ve made it to the postseason just three times in the 21st century, two of those instances have come within the last six years. With Myles Garrett’s sheer dominance, they have been able to build a relatively consistent team.
However, their consistency has only come on the defensive side of the ball, as the quarterback situation has remained a mess. As a result, while they’ve tried multiple names under center, none have been able to guide them to elite play.
That problem was on full display last season. With Deshaun Watson missing the entire season, the organization went in multiple directions trying to find their guy. From signing Joe Flacco to trading for Kenny Pickett, before drafting two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, they exhausted virtually every option at their disposal.
Unfortunately, almost none of them led to a great result. They traded Pickett before the season began, and then sent Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals during the season itself, while the two rookies finished with two of the three worst scores on PFSN’s QB Impact Metric.
Still, with no realistic options in free agency or the draft class, they could be looking to run it back with Shedeur Sanders, who started the final seven games of the season for them. With an offensive-minded head coach like Monken at the helm, the hope has to be that Sanders can find that next gear and cement himself as their franchise quarterback.
But for Monken, the change in Cleveland is a far more simple process. “Winning changes everything, right?” the Browns HC said. “I told the coaches that the other day. How does a player stop a narrative? Play well. How do we stop a narrative on offense? Score.”
Then, he explained his rationale with a simple analogy. “There is a narrative out there that you’re not a good husband. Well, change, be a good husband, right? All that is part of it. Change the narrative. Become that. That’s what we have to do. It’s real simple.”
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When he came to the Ravens, Monken immediately gave them top-10 offenses in back-to-back years. Last year, with Lamar Jackson’s injury, that number took a direct dip. But, as he comes to the Browns, the hope has to be that he can revive the franchise.
He’s put it in extremely simple terms. But it is now the execution of that vision that will determine the success of his tenure in Cleveland.
