The Cleveland Browns selected two running backs and two quarterbacks in the recent NFL Draft, an unconventional approach in today’s league. The team will enter training camp with five quarterbacks on their roster.
Shedeur Sanders was among the quarterbacks drafted by Cleveland, falling unexpectedly to the third day of the draft.
Hall of Famer Cris Carter attributed Sanders’ slide to pre-draft decisions made by his family.
“Shedeur and his family, they overplayed their hand,” Carter said. “Them thinking that he was in the same evaluation mode as Eli Manning, they didn’t play that right. Them trying to narrow the teams that he was going to go to, that didn’t do right.”
Reports also suggested Sanders may have intentionally performed poorly in interviews with teams he wasn’t interested in joining.
“At some of those [combine] meetings with certain teams that maybe Shedeur Sanders didn’t really want to go to… I was told that he more or less sandbagged in those interviews,” reported Jonathan Jones.
Sanders isn’t expected to start for the Browns this season.
Even if he were to secure the starting role, it likely wouldn’t extend beyond this year, as Cleveland could target Clemson’s Cade Klubnik in next year’s draft.
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III believes Sanders remains the most notable name in the Browns’ quarterback room despite his position on the depth chart.
“The Cleveland Browns headliner is their 4th QB on the roster who will get the least amount of reps and opportunity in the group. That’s a set up for dysfunction. That’s the Browns,” Griffin wrote.
While Sanders possesses the talent to potentially lead the Browns in the future, he’s unlikely to get that opportunity in the immediate term.
