When the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh to be their head coach, the running belief was that his offensive coordinator with the Ravens, Todd Monken, would follow him from Baltimore to New York for the same position--that was until the Cleveland Browns threw a curveball in their coaching search.
After getting spurned by many of their other top coaching candidates, the Browns landed on Monken. He understandably jumped at the chance to become an NFL head coach, but it’s starting to look like passing on a potential reunion with Harbaugh may not have landed him in the best situation.
The Myles Garrett trade was the first chance for the doubt to creep in, but Cleveland's QB drama is hammering the point home. He was forced to settle a QB battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, and while both options are far from ideal, he settled on Watson as the Week 1 starter--even though he's probably the worse option of the two.
Just in: Deshaun Watson has been named Cleveland’s starting quarterback for week 1 at Jacksonville. pic.twitter.com/34BNUahkXs
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 24, 2026
Todd Monken is in serious danger of being a one-and-done in Cleveland
Head coaching jobs don't come around often, and Monken deserves credit for seizing the day enough to find one, but taking a job with one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL is hard to defend, especially when a known offensive mind has no potential franchise QB to work with.
Watson has been horrible in camp to the point that he looks borderline unplayable. He’s been throwing picks left and right, and after he criticized Browns fans, the optics of Monken starting him look rough. That’s not to mention the off-field baggage and lofty cap hit, too. Yet he won the job over the higher-upside 24-year-old on his own merit? Yeah, right.
Monken could've had a cushy OC job in the Big Apple, where he could've brought the best out of Jaxson Dart just like he did with Lamar Jackson--and he still would've been a popular coaching candidate next offseason, where he could've landed in a more stable environment than Cleveland.
If anything, turning Dart into a perennial Pro Bowler would have been the more impressive notch on his resume than anything he accomplished in Athens or Baltimore. We know Monken is a bright offensive mind, but the Browns’ quarterback drama is proving that sometimes you should hold out for a better job. With how bad Cleveland’s QB play could be, he could quickly find himself on the hot seat.
The 59-year-old could be in danger of a short stay in Cleveland, and the Browns are not a franchise scared of pulling the rip cord early. They fired Freddie Kitchens and Rob Chudzinski after one season, and Pat Shurmur, Eric Mangini, and Mike Pettine all lasted just two years at the helm.
It’s starting to feel like the Browns only hired Todd Monken because they had no other choice since they needed someone to get through the year. His handling of both Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders this summer has certainly raised some questions. And if they both stink it up, he’ll regret not following John Harbaugh and many of his former players to the Giants when he had the chance.
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