Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders has certainly received a blunt reality check since making the jump to the NFL.
The general consensus was that Sanders would be a first-round pick and almost surely the second quarterback off the board in the NFL Draft, but instead, the Colorado Buffaloes product fell all the way to Round 5, where the Browns traded up to land him.
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Sanders wasn't even the first signal-caller Cleveland selected, as it took Oregon's Dillon Gabriel a couple of rounds earlier.
As a result, Sanders is now third on the Browns' quarterback depth chart behind Joe Flacco and Gabriel, which has just about everyone wondering what the future holds for Sanders in Cleveland.
Well, Dianna Russini of The Athletic provided some interesting intel on the situation heading into the regular season, noting that the Browns may be factoring Sanders into their future plans.
"For all the football conspiracy theorists out there trying to decode the real reason the Cleveland Browns drafted Shedeur Sanders, here's the truth: There is no big secret," Russini wrote. "The pick wasn't some master plan from ownership. It was GM Andrew Berry's call, rooted in his belief that Cleveland's coaching staff could bring out the best in Sanders and help him grow into an NFL quarterback. It will be a process, and the Browns want to keep developing him."
So does that mean we will get to see Sanders on the field this fall? That's a different story.
"However, don't plan on seeing the fifth-round rookie on the field this season unless things get really weird," Russini added. "Cleveland believes in Joe Flacco's experience and Dillon Gabriel's development as the backup."
There has been a prevailing thought that the Browns will simply draft another quarterback in the first round of next year's NFL Draft anyway, especially considering how loaded the 2026 quarterback class is expected to be.
But perhaps Cleveland is enticed by the idea of potentially rolling out Sanders as its starting quarterback in the years to come.
For more on the Browns and NFL, head to Newsweek Sports.
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