When the Cleveland Browns selected Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, they knew they were going to be getting a player heavily covered by the media. Sure enough, that is exactly what they ended up getting.
Throughout the first four weeks of the season and heading into Week 5, Sanders has been the team’s No. 3 emergency quarterback. However, he has continued to received a massive amount of media coverage.
For this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Browns have made the decision to bench Joe Flacco in favor of fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Despite that move, the coaching staff has decided to keep Flacco as their primary backup. Sanders will remain the No. 3 quarterback on the roster.
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Some reports have even come out that Cleveland would rather not play Sanders this season and that the team does not view him as a starter right now. Could Sanders actually sit out his entire rookie season while Gabriel gets starts? That isn’t something the fans or media have been too happy about.
With that being said, a new update has come out about Sanders and his future playing status from a well-respected NFL insider.
Ian Rapoport has shared that it sounds like Sanders will play for the Browns at some point later on in the season. He also provided more details about Cleveland’s current view of the former Colorado standout.
“I did hear about the other quarterback. There are a lot of things inside the Browns building that they like about Shedeur Sanders. His innate feel in a football game, they like his ability, they like how cool he is under pressure,” Rapoport said. “It just doesn’t seem, as of right now, that he’s ready to be a starting quarterback, which is okay. That was what they believed when they drafted him. That’s why he went in the fifth round. Will we get a look at him later in the season? It does sound like we probably will.”
That’s a different story than many reporters have given. Sanders still seems likely to see the field at some point this season according to Rapoport.
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Whenever that day comes and the Browns announce Sanders as their starting quarterback for the first time, the media and social media world will explode. Cleveland fans are just hoping that one of the two rookies can be a long-term option.
Only time will tell, but Rapoport’s report gives a much better outlook for Sanders looking deeper into the season.
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