Shedeur Sanders has remained buried on the Cleveland Browns’ depth chart even after the team made a starting quarterback switch, but that does not mean the former Colorado star is going to ride the bench for his entire rookie season.
The Browns benched Joe Flacco in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel for their Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Sanders is still No. 3 on the depth chart behind both Flacco and Gabriel. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, that has more to do with the Browns wanting to tailor a specific game plan to Sanders when they do eventually give him a shot to start.
Rapoport reported on Saturday that Sanders is expected to play at some point in 2025. If and when that happens, the Browns want Sanders to have a full week of practice with the first team and a game plan that is catered to his strengths.
If Gabriel plays well and Cleveland starts winning games, however, Sanders could potentially remain in a backup role for the rest of the season.
Sanders made headlines this week for some bizarre behavior during his media availability. Rather than responding to questions from reporters, the fifth-round pick pantomimed his answers. You can see the video here.
Most people assumed that Sanders was staging some sort of media protest because of the way he was portrayed recently after he compared himself to current NFL starting quarterbacks.
Rapoport says Sanders had a discussion with Browns officials about his awkward media session and expressed that he was sending a message that got lost in translation.
Sanders has drawn some harsh criticism in recent weeks from prominent people around the NFL, but it sounds like the Browns still plan to give him a fair shot at some point.
