After getting a vote of confidence from the Cleveland Browns’ ownership and coaching staff, it only took one month of regular-season play for Joe Flacco to lose the starting job. The Browns are 1-3, they’ve scored the second-fewest points of any team in the league so far, and rank 27th overall in terms of total yards gained.
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As a result, the Browns are opting for their 94th overall draft pick in Dillon Gabriel. Once again, that leaves their other star quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, on the sidelines and without an opportunity.
According to Rex Ryan, however, that’s likely the right call to make. During his most recent appearance on Get Up, the former head coach surmised that “something’s missing with this kid,” when speaking about the Browns’ ongoing quarterback dilemma.
Of course, not everyone shares that opinion. In fact, the former face of the Carolina Panthers, Cam Newton, felt the need to highlight the irony of Ryan’s statement. “We’ve never seen, in recent memory,” Newton prefaced, “…a fifth-round pick have this much relevance this deep into the regular season. Rex Ryan, you have to come forth with the source,” he added.
Ever since the Browns decided to double dip at the QB position in the draft, analysts and fans alike predicted that this would happen. Whenever the current signal caller begins to falter, murmurs and potentially even chants of “Sanders” will begin to erupt from the sidelines.
To Newton, that alone is “worth celebrating.” Unfortunately, it seems as if relevancy alone won’t be enough to get Sanders onto the field.
On the other hand, however, Cleveland’s decision to anoint Gabriel as their starter does signify that Sanders is at least one step closer. Should the Oregon prospect begin to play just as bad or even worse than Flacco, then it stands to reason that the former Buffalo would be the next man up for the Browns.
At that point, they would have swung and missed on two separate quarterbacks, and it’d be incredibly hard for the coaching staff to justify Sanders’ presence on the sidelines. Until then, however, the 2024 Golden Arm winner will have to do his best with the opportunities that are being presented to him on the practice field.
Shedeur Sanders has been working HARDER than almost every QB in the NFL.
On his off days, Sanders reportedly “never” takes the day off and is always training.
Sanders has reportedly been spending his free time training at Baldwin Wallace University.
A D3 university that’s… pic.twitter.com/wPp01pMIbB
— Rookie Watch (@RookieWatxh) September 30, 2025
Heading into their Week 5 match up against the Minnesota Vikings, the Browns are once again playing the role of the underdog, which figures to be the norm for the majority of the season. It’s highly unlikely that Gabriel will be able to turn them into betting favorites, but perhaps he can at least make them a bit more competitive.
At least, that’s what the franchise is hoping for. Otherwise, they’ll be facing the wrath of the media for the duration of the next calendar year.
