![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2254625697-e1775741144893.jpg\")
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Browns likely to start Shedeur Sanders.<\/p>\n
The Cleveland Browns<\/a> could be rolling with Shedeur Sanders as their starting quarterback in 2026.<\/p>\n Cleveland has a big question mark at quarterback as Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel are all under contract and competing for the job. Yet, it does appear to be a two-horse race between Sanders and Watson.<\/p>\n However, the Browns could also draft a quarterback. And Cleveland has been linked to Ty Simpson with their second first-round pick. Browns insider Zac Jackson of The Athletic doesn\u2019t think the team will heavily pursue Simpson. Instead, the team is fine with Sanders starting.<\/p>\n \u201cThus far, the 2026 Browns have stuck with the three passers they already had under contract. And have set the stage for a spring and summer quarterback competition,\u201d Jackson wrote<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019d be surprised if the quarterback room in September is still Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel. But I think the current group is set to have the most realistic shot at winning the job this summer. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI think the Browns are fine giving Sanders a fuller evaluation. With the 2027 quarterback draft class and the possibility of a mid-round (or even post-draft) addition in the background.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders ended the year as the Browns\u2019 starting quarterback, which plays a role in why Jackson expects him to start in 2026. Cleveland also has to give him more run to see if he can be a potential franchise quarterback.<\/p>\n Browns Unlikely to Use a 1st-Round Pick on Simpson<\/p>\n Cleveland has been linked to drafting a quarterback in the 2026 NFL<\/a> Draft, but it likely won\u2019t be in the first round.<\/p>\n Jackson believes the Browns have more needs than drafting a quarterback in the first round. So, unless Simpson falls to the second round, Jackson believes the Browns won\u2019t be selecting the former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve gathered, no \u2014 not in the first round, anyway,\u201d Jackson wrote about the potential Browns interest in Simpson. \u201cSimpson is the No. 2 quarterback in this draft, and no one seems to know if he\u2019ll go in the middle of the first round or even closer to the middle of the second. Simpson was just a one-year college starter, and there\u2019s not much of a track record of those players succeeding early in their NFL careers. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIf Simpson is still on the board headed to the second day, I think Cleveland will more seriously discuss potentially taking him at No. 39. If there\u2019s a trade-down involving No. 6 that nets<\/a> the Browns an extra Day 2 pick, I\u2019ll go from being fairly confident they\u2019ll draft a developmental quarterback to nearly certain they\u2019re in the quarterback business in this draft \u2014 whatever that business ends up being.\u201d<\/p>\n Simpson threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions<\/a> in his first year as the starter.<\/p>\n Sanders Gets QB1 Treatment<\/p>\n Entering offseason training, Sanders is widely considered to be the team\u2019s starter.<\/p>\n The Browns\u2019 official Instagram account even posted Sanders walking into the building for a voluntary workout.<\/p>\n Many fans believe that shows Sanders is in line to be the team\u2019s Week 1 starter. And the Browns are hyping it up by showing him walking into the building.<\/p>\n Sanders was named to the Pro Bowl last season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCole Shelton<\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL, MLB, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Browns\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Browns likely to start Shedeur Sanders. The Cleveland Browns could be rolling with Shedeur Sanders as their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-862350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116375183165262465","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}