BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders is making progress. That’s a fair observation and takeaway from the final stretch of the Cleveland Browns’ offseason program, which officially came to a close Thursday afternoon with the team’s third and last mandatory minicamp practice.But new Browns coach Todd Monken veered from his stated goal of naming a starting quarterback in time for training camp, because he wants and needs to see more from Sanders and Deshaun Watson this summer — and because neither won the job in the spring the way Monken at least hoped one of them would.Like so many previous Browns teams, the 2026 version doesn’t have a quarterback. Monken says he views Watson and Sanders as starting-quality players, but any honest look at this situation — and why the Browns are in it — must include the likelihood that Cleveland is rebuilding its roster and gearing up for another quarterback search in 2027 if necessary.If Sanders can win the job, play well and place himself in the future plans, much will change. If he can’t, the Browns and their extra draft capital will embark upon a 2027 quarterback search.Whether Sanders can win the job this summer remains to be seen. As minicamp closed, Monken repeated that he’d “love to” already have a starter but will open training camp alternating Watson and Sanders the way he did through the spring and minicamp. Ultimately, Monken said, he’ll play “whoever gives us the best chance to score, and I won’t know that until we play.”By “play,” Monken doesn’t just mean the preseason games. He means practice settings with something close to full contact on everyone but the quarterbacks. He means longer, more intense summer practices with something close to a real pass rush and more reps logged by each competitor. If there’s still no winner after those regular camp settings, the preseason games and joint practices with the Buffalo Bills will end up as the deciding factors. More than anything, Monken will want to see more consistency and confidence from Watson and Sanders in training camp than he saw in the spring.For now, it’s still June. Monken didn’t have to name a winner in the spring, and no spring program with a new coaching staff and new offense was ever going to create an instant juggernaut. What’s obvious is the Browns have upgraded their pass-catching group, and that’s with rising star tight end Harold Fannin Jr. sitting out the spring. The Browns have speed across the wide receiver depth chart and had two obvious spring standouts in rookie Denzel Boston and second-year wide receiver Isaiah Bond.Though much is new and unsettled, it’s probably safe to say Watson looked like the same player in his return from a year and a half away that he was before his two Achilles tendon injuries. Watson seems healthy and occasionally threw downfield with confidence, but he lacked consistency and too often threw into traffic. Sanders seemed to be a more confident and accurate passer later in the spring than he was early on.Still, the lack of a decision tracks with what we’ve seen from sideline viewing over the course of a voluntary minicamp, three open organized team activity practices and this week’s mandatory minicamp. The Browns don’t have a winner in their quarterback battle, and there doesn’t seem to be much reason for them to want Watson to play unless he’s clearly their best option.Ins and outsThe first day of the three-day minicamp was the fastest and fullest in terms of competitive practice reps. That was the day Sanders mostly worked with the No. 1 offense. Wednesday was Watson’s day, and in a shorter practice Thursday that was scripted more like a situational Friday in-season practice, Watson went first with the No. 1 offense, but Sanders got more reps as practice went on.When he’s feeling it and trusting what he sees, Sanders is an accurate passer. That was on display at times Tuesday, and over the course of the spring, Monken and offensive coordinator Travis Switzer praised Sanders for improving his footwork and ability to go through his progressions quickly. Thursday, quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian became the third staff member to say Sanders had done a noticeably better job of aligning his feet to his potential targets and passing lanes.“He’s working his butt off to really master his craft,” Bajakian said.Wednesday, Sanders and Watson addressed the media. Sanders wanted nothing to do with any talk of how he viewed the competition, mostly saying he felt energized by the new staff and his chances to continue to improve. Watson, understandably, seemed to be more comfortable as his interview went on, but there’s no running — for anyone — from the general awkwardness of the whole situation.The Browns spent the back half of 2024 and the start of 2025 knowing they had to move on from the multiple disasters caused by Watson’s lack of success and availability through his first four seasons in Cleveland. Now it’s 2026, the team is still trying to move on and Watson is back in the mix. There’s even a chance he’s going to be the starter and that Monken will try to build an offensive plan around Watson’s athleticism and perceived ability to throw on the run.Regardless of who’s at quarterback, the spring offered clues about Monken’s use of motion, and of quick passes to and designed touches for speedy first-round rookie KC Concepcion. Especially when Fannin is back, expect the Browns to hunt mismatches in the quick passing game and use misdirection to create space and passing lanes for the quarterback.Perhaps most telling about Boston’s progress through the spring is that Tuesday and Thursday in minicamp, Sanders started a new practice period by immediately targeting Boston on the first play of a fresh series.On the defensive sideIn a minicamp that included a quarterback competition and obvious wide receiver upgrades, it was easy to ignore the defense. That was made even easier by the fact that cornerback Denzel Ward was only a partial participant and safety Grant Delpit was a spectator, either because he’s dealing with an injury or angling for a new contract ahead of the final year of his current one. Perhaps it’s a bit of both.But as minicamp went on, it started to set in that new acquisition Jared Verse is here for the long term, not just as a visitor, and that Myles Garrett really doesn’t play for the Browns anymore. It’s not that Garrett would have taken many minicamp reps, but he always drew eyeballs.With Garrett having been traded on June 1, an obvious but early question was whether Ward could be next. Delpit, who turns 28 just after the start of the season, should get a new deal or be considered a potential trade asset, too. The Browns are playing for 2027 and beyond, and anyone who’s not in the longer-term plans can and should be viewed as a placeholder. That, really, is something that started last year and continued this spring with the offensive line overhaul and the Garrett trade.This team belongs to the young players now, which reinforces why playing Watson serves little purpose. But the implications extend well beyond the quarterback room. In the wake of the Garrett trade, there has been a full internal lean-in on Verse, 25, as a cornerstone piece, similar to what already had been happening with second-year linebacker Carson Schwesinger. Barring injury or a wild change of circumstance, the Browns’ leading rusher will be second-year player Quinshon Judkins, and the leading receiver will be Fannin or Boston, who will both be 22 when training camp begins.The 90-man roster has just five players aged 30 or older, and of those, only offensive linemen Tytus Howard and Elgton Jenkins are signed past 2026. The Garrett trade left Ward and Delpit as the only players who have spent more than five seasons with the Browns. By November, it won’t be a shock to see between 25 and 30 players on the active 53-man roster who have two or fewer years of NFL experience.Set your expectations accordingly. Enjoy the summer break, too, and come right back here in late July ready to argue about quarterbacks.