Ex-NFL WR has inside scoop about Shedeur Sanders with Browns: ‘That’s what I was told’

The Cleveland Browns still do not know who their starting quarterback will be next season, but a former NFL wide receiver learned that the competition could already be down to two players, and Shedeur Sanders is not one of them.

On Friday’s episode of the “NightCap” podcast, former Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh shared what he was told about the battle between Sanders, former Eagles quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel.

“I don’t know how this is a fair comment, but I was told from somebody that’s in the building that is not a player, it’s really coming down to Kenny Pickett or Dillon Gabriel,” Houshmandzadeh said. “That’s what I was told. But now when you get the reports that Shedeur’s completing seven out of nine passes, is it against starters or is it threes and the fours — the guys that’s going to get released?”

Houshmandzadeh and his co-host, former Giants tight end Darren Waller, said they wished the Browns would do a better job of allowing the quarterbacks to have a chance to have more repetitions during the process, recommending the Browns let two quarterbacks get a majority of the repetitions one day and then allow the other two to get the bulk of them the next day.

Sanders, a fifth-round draft pick, completed 74% of his passes (353 of 477) for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for the University of Colorado last season. Despite those numbers, he was the sixth quarterback selected after he was projected to be taken in the first two rounds of the draft, being the second the Browns took after Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel was selected in the third round.Pickett, who was traded to the Browns for quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth-round pick, completed 59.5% of his passes (25 of 42) for 291 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. However, Pickett is a free agent after this season.