Shedeur Sanders Will Have To Wait To Play For The Browns This Season

Few teams carried much scrutiny but little expectations entering training campy this summertime up of nan NFL play than Cleveland.

Coming disconnected past season's 3-14 record, nan Browns were projected for nan lowest over-under for victories successful 2025 by astatine slightest 1 awesome sportsbook. Yet arsenic nan team's backups played during preseason exhibitions for nan past 3 weeks, and arsenic nan NFL's deadline to trim rosters to 53 players arrived Tuesday, nan Browns' determination connected 1 position successful peculiar was perpetually dissected.

Who would beryllium their backup backmost down starter Joe Flacco?

Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski named third-round draught prime Dillon Gabriel arsenic nan victor of nan backup domiciled Tuesday, up of fifth-round prime Shedeur Sanders.

Gabriel "continues to get amended and better," Stefanski said Tuesday.

"It's specified an all-encompassing evaluation," the coach told reporters. "Everything nan guys did successful nan games was important. We besides saw a batch of them retired present successful believe and really they are astatine their craft."

The boy of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, whom he played for successful assemblage astatine Jackson State and Colorado, Sanders was considered a imaginable early-round draught prime earlier sliding to nan draft's 3rd time successful April.

At 40 years aged and entering his 18th NFL season, Flacco isn't considered a semipermanent action arsenic Cleveland's starter, which underscores nan title for his superior backup. The pecking bid mostly determines believe opportunities during nan season.

Sanders completed 14 of his 23 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns without a sack while starting during Cleveland's preseason opener connected Aug. 8, while Gabriel was unavailable pinch a hamstring injury. When Gabriel started nan 2nd preseason game, he completed 13 of his 18 passes for 143 yards pinch an interception and 2 sacks. Both played successful nan preseason finale past week, pinch Gabriel completing 12 of his 19 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown, while Sanders was 3-for-6 for 14 yards but was sacked 5 times. The sacks highlighted a peculiar criticism from draught evaluators astir Sanders' heavy drops successful nan pocket, and really they could lead to sacks.

When Cleveland removed Sanders and played different backup, Tyler Huntley, for nan last 2 minutes of nan game, it further aggravated a chat that had been raging for weeks connected societal media astir whether nan rookie quarterbacks were being fixed adjacent opportunities. Among those captious were Shannon Sharpe and erstwhile NFL receiver Chad Johnson, who on their YouTube show blamed nan squad for their handling of nan backmost repetitions.

“I don't interest myself pinch extracurricular types of things, but I’m committed to his improvement conscionable for illustration each of our rookies,” Stefanski said during a telephone pinch reporters Sunday, erstwhile asked astir nan "persistent narrative" that he was sabotaging Sanders. “We’ll proceed to attraction connected getting our guys better.”

Andrew Berry, Cleveland's wide manager, told NFL Network aft nan last preseason crippled that nan squad was fresh to transportation 4 quarterbacks connected its 53-man roster during nan season.

"We person a room that we for illustration each nan guys successful there,” Berry said, two days earlier trading 1 of those quarterbacks, Kenny Pickett, to Las Vegas. “We don’t really spot that arsenic a problem. We much spot it arsenic an opportunity.”