It’s no secret that things haven’t been going smoothly for Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland. When the Browns drafted him in the fifth round, there was genuine optimism. He was given a chance to compete for a spot on the roster, though the odds were stacked against him. Sanders had to battle with four other quarterbacks, often relegated to working with the third- and fourth-string players, rarely seeing first-team reps.
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Even so, the Colorado alum managed to showcase flashes of his talent in the preseason. He looked solid in his debut but stumbled in the third game after missing the second. When the roster was trimmed to 53, the Browns kept him, but only as QB3, firmly buried on the depth chart. It soon became clear that the competition was never truly open. From the outset, the process seemed rigged, with Sanders never given a real shot to contend for the starting job.
Skip Bayless was quick to call it out. He voiced his support for Sanders, going as far as to suggest a league-wide conspiracy against him. In Bayless’s view, the NFL wanted to “humble” both Shedeur and his father, Deion, sending a message that no one is bigger than the league. Sanders’s confidence, which some interpreted as arrogance, rubbed decision-makers the wrong way. To drive the point home, the league let his draft stock plummet, pushing him into the fifth round.
According to Skip, the only reason Sanders didn’t go undrafted was Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who overrode his front office and coaching staff. Haslam has long relished portraying himself as a maverick owner, someone unafraid to make bold or unpopular moves. In Shedeur, he saw both untapped talent and a golden opportunity.
” I think he would have gone undrafted except for that owner in Cleveland, and he is the key to everything because he is something of an against-the-grain, maverick owner. He is kind of a wannabe Jerry. He likes the kid and got it in the back of his mind that, maybe, this kid is as good as Mel Kiper and Skip Bayless say. He fell into Cleveland’s lap because Jimmy Haslam wanted a publicity splash. It was mostly a publicity stunt.”
Even as a fifth-round pick and the Browns’ QB3, Sanders remains a crowd-puller and a name that generates headlines. For Haslam, that alone made him worth the gamble. For Sanders, though, it’s yet another reminder that the road to proving himself in the NFL may be far steeper than it should have been.
Being a QB3 has, in some ways, lifted a burden off Shedeur Sanders. The immediate pressure to step in and deliver has been taken off his shoulders. Instead, he now has the chance to grow in an NFL environment, practicing daily, absorbing the system, and testing himself with valuable reps against the first-team defense. That experience alone will sharpen his game and give him the time he needs to refine his craft.
Looking ahead, the real competition will likely come next year. With Joe Flacco expected to be out of the picture, the battle for QB1 could come down to Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. That scenario would present Shedeur with the perfect opportunity to make his case, not just in Cleveland, but for any team willing to believe in his potential as a starter.
