Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Getty
Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
The Cleveland Browns’ clearest path back to contention may already be in the building — and it centers on Shedeur Sanders.
Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract has limited the team’s flexibility, leaving few viable avenues to upgrade the position. With a thin free-agent market and a lack of top-end quarterback talent in the draft, outside options are scarce.
ESPN Browns beat reporter Daniel Oyefusi said on 92.3 The Fan that Cleveland’s best chance to turn things around hinges on Sanders developing into a reliable starter.
“Realistically, the best pathway for the Browns and this current roster is for one of these incumbent guys to take off. And really, you’re looking at Shedeur because he’s younger and you saw some flashes this past year,” Oyefusi said. “That is, in an ideal world for the Browns, their pathway to contending in 2026 and beyond. The question is, is that realistic and possible?
“The first and second waves of free agency have passed, no quarterback has been added. The only other real logical way to add a quarterback is through the draft. But they’re not going to get Fernando Mendoza. We’ll see about Ty Simpson and some of these other guys. But really, I think this current quarterback room is what we’re looking at when we talk about a quarterback competition and who is going to lead this offense in 2026.”
Sanders Is the Bet
The Browns have three quarterbacks under contract heading into 2026: Sanders, Watson and Dillon Gabriel. New head coach Todd Monken has dubbed it an “open competiton” but there are some caveats. Watson hasn’t played in over a year after two Achilles surgeries. Gabriel is widely viewed as a backup at the NFL level after his disappointing rookie campaign.
Sanders — a fifth-round pick who started the final seven games of his rookie season — seems like the only realistic answer currently on the roster.
“I think what you see is elite playmaking ability. That’s in him,” Monken said of Sanders. “You’ve seen it. We’ve seen it. You saw it in college. You saw it on tape last year. Sure, there’s a ways to go. But what rookie isn’t, I mean, what first year player doesn’t have a long way to go? So, I’m excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players.”
Multiple reports have Sanders as the current frontrunner heading into the offseason program. If he can prove to be a viable option, it’d be a score for the Browns to have a starting quarterback on a fifth-round pick’s salary.
Shedeur Sanders Provided Reason for Browns to Believe
Sanders’ rookie numbers weren’t overly-impressive. He completed 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But the circumstances were worth noting. He was thrown in mid-season with no first-team reps and behind a patchwork offensive line.
Sanders did show some genuine upside with his playmaking ability and leadership on the field. He earned a Pro Bowl nod as a replacement, becoming the first Browns quarterback to make the game since Derek Anderson in 2008.
General manager Andrew Berry saw growth across those seven starts and sent a message on what needs to come next.
“I think the biggest thing we want to see from Shedeur is just continued growth,” Berry said. “I think he grew a lot from start one to start seven. Certainly, playing more efficiently, not putting the ball in harm’s way as much will be important while maintaining the ability to produce out of structure and generate explosive plays.
The Browns also did their part this offseason, overhauling the offensive line with Tytus Howard, Zion Johnson and Elgton Jenkins to give Sanders — or whoever starts under center — more protection.