Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders may be in competition for the starting job, but there’s no sense of animosity from the crestfallen first-round talent who fell to the Browns in Day 3 of the draft.
Sanders, who has a sponsorship with KFC and was working the drive-thru at a Cleveland-area store, was greeted by a fan in a Cleveland Guardians cap.
“Aye, Joe Flacco ain’t s***,” the fan said.
“Nah, bruh. Joe Flacco my man, bro,” Sanders said candidly.
“But I like Shedeur more, though, you feel me,” the fan recoiled.
Yeah,” Sanders replied with a smile. “But that’s my man, though.”
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Flacco and Sanders are embroiled in a four-way quarterback competition entering Browns training camp next week.
While veterans Kenny Pickett and Flacco are considered favorites to win the job, Sanders and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel have youth on their side and could mount massive improvements to their play in a matter of weeks in their first NFL training camp.
Sanders hasn’t been given the best hand entering the NFL after he was garnering first-round interest ahead of the 2025 draft.
However, he’s shown he hasn’t soured despite falling to the fifth round and is not acting with entitlement entering his first NFL season.
Shedeur Sanders Facing Steep Task This Summer
A few months ago, the expectation was that Sanders would be selected in the first round of the draft and be a strong candidate to start Week 1.
However, entering a crowded Browns quarterback room, Sanders has his work cut out for him. The reps will be hard to come by in training camp as the early favorites for the starting job will command most of the work with the first-team players.
Sanders isn’t focused on that at the moment.
“My goal is to be the best teammate and to be as polished as I can be in every aspect,” Sanders said during minicamps. “I view things as I got time. I got time to be able to grow and mature and be able to understand the ins and outs of the defenses and be able to get the good insight from the vets in the room.
“So, I look at it as a plus. I got time to actually be able to really have a great understanding and whenever it’s time for me to play, then it’s time for me to play. But I’m not looking too far into the future about all that. I’m looking [at] every day in practice. … I’m focused on the small things and over time the big things will happen.”
Shedeur Sanders Could Have Short Stint With Browns
While Sanders just arrived in Cleveland, the Browns’ quarterback situation has reached an impasse after the struggles that have followed the Deshaun Watson signing.
This season will be telling of the direction Cleveland eventually goes. If the Browns bottom out due to their turbulence at the position, Cleveland will be positioned to draft a blue-chip quarterback prospect in what is expected to be a deeper 2026 class than this year’s group.
While Sanders still has time to develop, the runway for a starting job in Cleveland appears very short.
