For all the talk about Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders ascending to the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback spot, his current position on the team’s totem pole indicates he’s potentially in trouble.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot tried to sugarcoat Sanders’ status as the fourth-stringer – that’s with Deshaun Watson expected to be shelved for the entire season with an Achilles tear, by the way – by saying his continued improvement can “narrow the gap” on Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, and Dillon Gabriel in the QB competition.
Evidently, though, Shedeur is still in the back of the line in Cleveland’s QB room.
“If Shedeur Sanders continues to progress in training camp like he has over the past two weeks, he’ll narrow the gap on the other three Browns quarterbacks in the competition,” Cabot wrote.
“After a bit of a slow start in spring practices, Sanders has come on strong over the past two weeks with plenty of completions, touchdown passes and grasp of the scheme. Granted, he’s still the fourth-team quarterback and has a long way to go. But he’s made significant strides during recent organized team activities and the mandatory minicamp, remaining alive in the competition.”
While Cabot would later claim that Sanders and Gabriel were practically shoo-ins to make the roster.
Other reporting has called Sanders' roster spot into question, though.
USA Today’s Chris Bumbaca spoke about Kevin Stefanski having Sanders in training camp in uncertain terms.
“By the time training camp arrives in July, Sanders said, he plans on being there. Whether Stefanski and the Browns coaching staff agree or not will determine the direction of Sanders’ rookie season,” Bumbaca wrote.
Pro Football Talk’s Michael Davis called Sanders “no sure thing” to make the Browns’ roster back in April following his draft slide to Cleveland in the 2025 NFL draft’s fifth round.
It appears Sanders did little to convince Andrew Berry and Co. otherwise.
It remains to be seen if Cleveland will consider having five quarterbacks on payroll heading into training camp.
Common sense would say otherwise.