Sportsnaut
When the Cleveland Browns decided to double down by selecting Dillon Gabriel in the third round and trade up for Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, it set up a series of questions.
Like, what would they do with Joe Flacco, who had just been signed two weeks before? Or what about Kenny Pickett, for whom the Browns traded Dorian Thompson-Robinson, plus a fifth-round pick?
More so, what would Sanders’s role be? After all, he arrived on the team as the fourth or even fifth-string quarterback, if you count the injured Deshaun Watson. Well, we now have answers to all those questions.
Flacco has been named the Browns’ starting QB. Pickett has been traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for a fifth-round pick, and Gabriel has been named as Flacco’s primary backup QB. So, where does that put Sanders?
With Gabriel announced as Flacco’s backup, Sanders will now start the season as Cleveland’s third-string QB, likely meaning he’ll be inactive on gamedays, barring injury. Still, after many skeptics initially believed Sanders wouldn’t even make the team, this is a good start to his NFL career.
Honestly, most fifth-round picks aren’t slated to be primary backups, so Sanders isn’t behind by any means. If anything, he’s one play away from becoming the Browns’ second-string quarterback, and another away from seeing action in the regular season. Will either of those situations present themselves in 2025? For a Browns team with scattered expectations, anything is possible.
Related: Cleveland Browns Cut Former Pro Bowl Player, As Expected
More must-reads:
