The Cleveland Browns had a big QB decision to make this offseason. Jameis Winston was gone in free agency, and Deshaun Watson would be dealing with an Achilles tear (not that they wanted him back anyway). To fill the void, they drafted Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
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But even before that, they had supplemented their ranks by acquiring former first-round pick Kenny Pickett via trade and signing 40-year-old Joe Flacco. This has created quite the intriguing four-way QB competition in Cleveland for this summer.
While Flacco is currently the betting favorite to win the Week 1 starting job, most Browns fans would likely be more excited to see one of the rookies get the nod. LeSean McCoy, a two-time Super Bowl winner and current FS1 pundit, believes Sanders should win the job.
On an episode of The Facility, McCoy even compared the fifth-round pick QB to one of his own iconic former teammates.
“We’re gonna give everybody a chance to start. And you’re like, huh? That’s because you see what that kid (Shedeur Sanders) looks like in practice. You’ve seen his work ethic. Everything you heard about him is not true. Don’t let the jewelry, and the music, and the swagger fool you,” McCoy said.
“He’s a hard worker. First thing the head coach said was, ‘Hey, he’s the first one in the building, he’s the last one to leave.’ That sounds like someone else I know, his name was Brady.”
McCoy played with his fair share of great QBs during his career. He was teammates with Donovan McNabb and Mike Vick in Philly, but in his last two years, he really hit the jackpot.
He played with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in 2019 when they won their first title, then joined Tom Brady (who has actually mentored Sanders over the last couple of years) and the Buccaneers in 2020 as they beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl 55. Clearly, he knows what habits a great QB tends to have.
McCoy also pointed out how “crazy” it was that many were once worried about Sanders merely making the team — now, we’re talking about him as one of the frontrunners to win the starting job.
“The thing I love about Shedeur is that he seems way more focused. I’m here, and I ain’t here to be nobody’s backup. I think he’s gonna be starting… the first five games, maybe six games, he’s gonna be the starter,” said McCoy.
“Everyone was saying the bare minimum, let’s just make the team. That’s over with. I made the team, I’m on the team, I’m the highest jersey seller on the team, and Myles Garrett’s across from me!”
"He's the 1st in the building, last to leave. Sounds like someone I know: Tom Brady."@CutOnDime25 on why it's time for the QB1 talk with Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/QR2YsSbvv4
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) May 26, 2025
Media members have already gotten their first looks at Sanders and Gabriel at the rookie minicamp. While ESPN’s Tony Rossi thought Gabriel looked a bit better, The Athletic’s Zac Jackson said that in terms of throwing the ball, Sanders was much better, and “it’s not close.” Although, he did say it’s still early and that we shouldn’t place too much importance on these early looks.
The fact that Browns veterans welcomed Sanders right away when he was drafted, how he’s comported himself since arriving in Cleveland, and those jersey sales (he was the highest-selling rookie jersey following the draft) all combine to show that Sanders has a very realistic shot to win the starting job. If he doesn’t win it, but he plays well in preseason, he could even be traded to another QB-needy team.
