After spending much of the off-season after the NFL Draft keeping fans guessing, the Cleveland Browns ended all doubt by making former Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco the starter and Sheuder Sanders the third-string quarterback to start the 2025 NFL Season. To remove any doubt, third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel will start as Flacco’s backup after trading receiving threat Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The stunning news marks another unfavorable chapter in the saga of Sheuder Sanders. Before the NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders was a projected first-round pick. However, the only consolation to start the season is that DeShaun Watson will be his backup. It’s unlikely that Cleveland will keep four quarterbacks, so it won’t be surprising if Watson is traded in an innovative way, unlike the shocking Cowboys’ trade of Parsons to the Packers.
The Long Road Ahead for Sanders
With Gabriel now officially Flacco’s backup, it means Sanders will now open the season as Cleveland’s third-string QB, most likely inactive on game days barring injury. Still, it’s not a bad start for a player that many skeptics around the league as well as expert reviews on Calgary2026.ca, including during the draft process, figured might not even make the team.
Truthfully, most fifth-round picks don’t get to be this high on the depth chart to begin with, so Sanders isn’t behind at all in that regard. In fact, he’s one play away from being the Browns’ second-string quarterback and another play from entering a game in the regular season.
The fact that Sheduer Sanders survived the final cut means that the Browns brass aren’t willing to give up on the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, the only player to play in a Super Bowl and World Series. Sanders, 23, can sling a tight spiral with remarkable accuracy for a young shotgun caller. After his free fall in the NFL Draft a few months ago produced a tidal wave of conspiracy theories, Sanders now holds the distinction of being one of the NFL’s most popular players while pegged to sit on the bench, at least for now, with one of the league’s worst teams.
Maybe Sanders’ Big Break Might Come this Season
However, if Flacco should falter, it stands to reason that Gabriel will get the nod. Perhaps this will be Sanders’ attempt to move up the rankings with Flacco’s career coming to an end. Still, you have many fans and critics who believe that Sanders still should have been picked in the first round. Of course, many still see Sanders in the spotlight of leading the NCAA in completion percentage while starring for Colorado last season.
But he also isn’t your average, everyday fifth-round pick, either, as his every move, performance, or even utterance tends to generate thousands of clicks. He moves the needle, as they say. There’s also speculation and negative stereotypes surrounding black quarterbacks.
Since Coach Prime arrived in Boulder in 2023, Colorado has become the unofficial team for America’s black college teams to support, with Shedeur Sanders as the captain. Even with Sanders with the Browns, many of his fans still seem in that light.
However, Sanders’s critics believe that Sanders’ recent performance speaks for itself as to why he was demoted to third-string. It’s hard to forget about Sanders’ horrible outing in the second half against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday. Throughout the second half, Sanders’ erratic throws and poor decision-making, along with five sacks, outshone his heroics on the College Football field.
As the No. 3 quarterback, it’s likely that Sanders will be working in practices as the scout quarterback to help the Brown’s defense. He has the chance to continue his development, and who knows how fast that will progress, and when and how the opportunities to play in real games will arise if pressed into service.
Imagine, though, if Sanders didn’t survive the cut. The conspiracy theories might have been off the hook. After he stumbled in the preseason finale, a narrative persisted that suggested the Browns failed Sanders with Stefanski’s play-calling and the bottom-of-the-roster personnel around him. It should also be noted that Sanders didn’t exactly light it up himself.
The Browns kick off the 2025 season against their rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, on September 7th.
