The Cleveland Browns plan to keep Shedeur Sanders on their roster for the long term despite the former Colorado quarterback sitting third on the depth chart, according to the Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
Sanders won’t see playing time during the 2025 season “unless things get really weird” in Cleveland. That likely means injuries or unexpected changes involving Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel.
The fifth-round pick finished fourth in Kevin Stefanski’s quarterback competition but moved up to third after Kenny Pickett’s trade to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Bleacher Report’s Joseph Zucker sees both positives and negatives in Sanders’ situation. He points to Anthony Richardson’s development with the Indianapolis Colts as a cautionary tale about rushing rookie quarterbacks.
“Being the third-stringer isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Sanders’ development right now. Not every rookie quarterback is ready to play straight out of the gate, and rushing them onto the field can be counterproductive,” Zucker wrote.
Richardson started Week 1 in 2023 as a rookie. Now in his third season, he couldn’t beat out Daniel Jones for the starting job in Indianapolis.
“Given the guys ahead of him are an aging Flacco and a 24-year-old rookie, the optics wouldn’t look great if Sanders is holding a clipboard all season.”
The Browns valued Gabriel enough to consider him for a first-round pick if he stood over six feet tall. Cleveland owns two 2026 first-round selections after trading Sanders’ former Colorado teammate Travis Hunter to the Jacksonville Jaguars on draft night.
Sanders never climbed out of last place during the team’s quarterback competition.
His long-term future in Cleveland remains unclear given his draft position and performance in training camp. The Browns wouldn’t have kept him on the active roster without seeing potential, but the path forward isn’t obvious.
