Shedeur Sanders Off Cleveland Browns Before NFL Season Kicks Off?

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders finds himself in a precarious situation in the Browns quarterback room. The former Colorado Buffaloes star was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by Cleveland, but it is not a guarantee he is on the Browns roster by the time the season kicks off.

Sanders was the first Colorado quarterback drafted into the NFL since Koy Detmer in 1997. Sanders will look to be the first Buffalo to start at quarterback in an NFL game in years.

A Crowded Cleveland Browns Quarterback Room

Shedeur Sanders Cleveland Browns Quarterback NFL Draft Dillon Gabriel Rookie Training Camp 2025 Colorado Buffaloes — Browns quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders (12), Kenny Pickett (8) and Joe Flacco (15) talk during minicamp June 10, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Browns currently have five quarterbacks; Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Deshaun Watson. Watson is still recovering from an achilles injury suffered last season. Nonetheless, the Browns will have a decision on their hands to make regarding the other four.

NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo spoke earlier this week about the possibility of a Browns rookie quarterback being claimed on waivers by another team before the season starts.

🔥 Shedeur & Browns. A Possible 2nd Draft After Training Camp

"You're not keeping 4 QBs. If #12 becomes available, it's almost going to be like a second draft. Training Camp is going to be so important for these rookies"

📽️ @nflnetwork @MikeGarafolo https://t.co/IH0MTJZICW pic.twitter.com/aAoX5ow9pd
— JaKi 🇺🇸 (@JaKiTruth) July 19, 2025

“You’re not keeping four quarterbacks. You got four on the roster here…You traded for Kenny Pickett, then to just get rid of him doesn’t make much sense,” Garafolo said. “You could have four quarterbacks in the building just not necessarily on the roster so I think that’s the way it’s going to play out. Which of those rookies can put stuff on tape in the preseason that makes it hard for the Browns to then subject one of them to get through waivers to get onto the practice squad.”

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Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel?

The Browns will likely head into the season with a maximum of three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. This means somebody will be left off. It probably won’t be Flacco, who appears to be in line to be the Week One starter due to his experience and familiarity within Kevin Stefanski’s system from his time with the Browns in 2023.

Kenny Pickett was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Browns this offseason for Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth round pick. It would be puzzling for the Browns to move off him right away.

Then there are the two rookies; Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. Sanders was taken in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft while Gabriel was taken two rounds before him. The two will be battling it out this training camp and preseason for who gets the higher spot on the depth chart.

If both play well, it will put the Browns in a tough spot that could result in them losing one of them on waivers. Another team could like what they saw from one of them and sign them if they were on waivers.

“If Shedeur Sanders can show some of the playmaking ability that we saw at the college level, that will make it that much easier,” Garafolo said. “All of those teams that maybe would have taken him at some point (in the draft) and said ‘Do we really want to do it…Oh wait a second, maybe the Browns did hit on something.’”

Even if Sanders plays well in lead up to the season, he could still be fourth on the Browns depth chart which would then likely result on him being cut. If he cleared the 24-hour waiver window without being signed by another team, the Browns could keep him on their practice squad roster.