Analyst: Browns Didn't Give Shedeur Sanders Chance to Start

After much deliberation and drama, the Cleveland Browns and Head Coach Kevin Stefanski have finally decided on their starting quarterback for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Veteran Joe Flacco has won the QB1 job for the team's opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Won" is a strong word in that last sentence, though. After Cleveland signed him in free agency, he was viewed as the preliminary favorite for the starting position, even after the Browns traded for Kenny Pickett and took two more quarterbacks in the 2025 draft in Oregon's Dillon Gabriel and Colorado Buffaloes star Shedeur Sanders.

Flacco has yet to suit up for Cleveland in the preseason, sitting out against both the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles for rest. In training camp, he's gone 91-of-151 passing for six touchdowns and zero picks through Day 14. From the outside looking in, it seems more like the other Browns QBs failed to decisively take the job away from Flacco than him doing anything actually to earn the nomination.

Shedeur Sanders, NFL, preseason, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles — Aug 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) watches third quarter action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Was Shedeur Sanders given a real chance to become the Cleveland Browns' QB1?

When the Cleveland Browns took quarterback Shedeur Sanders out of Colorado in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, no one knew what to expect. The team had already added three other QBs to vie for Deshaun Watson's vacated starting spot, including another rookie whom they drafted two rounds prior in Dillon Gabriel.

However, Sanders steadily impressed throughout training camp, even humbling himself to the point of throwing to equipment managers to prove himself. That all came to a head when he was given the start in Cleveland's first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, with Gabriel and Kenny Pickett sidelined with hamstring injuries.

In that opportunity, Sanders threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-23 completion. Fans and analysts around the league called for him to be moved up the Browns' rotation after that performance, but he remains fourth among their quarterbacks on the unofficial depth chart.

After Head Coach Kevin Stefanski named Joe Flacco the Week 1 starter, ESPN Cleveland's Tony Rizzo suggested that Sanders was never given a real opportunity to earn the job:

"The Browns wanted Kenny Pickett to battle 40-year-old Joe Flacco — that's their answer at quarterback. And they drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round, and then put Shedeur [Sanders], the most popular player in the draft, who they added in the fifth round, and they say it's a value pick."

"When they say it's a value pick, the value was what? You're not giving him a chance to start. You're not. They won't even let him play the 1s in practice. Why did they draft him? Why? If I'm that kid, I respectfully go into that office and go, 'Yes, thank you for the opportunity, but can I please go somewhere where I have a chance to play?'"

Rizzo's brutal assessment of the Browns' handling of Sanders does have some merit behind it. He notably never got the chance to play alongside Cleveland's first-team offense, and likely only got the chance to start in preseason because of Pickett and Gabriel's injuries. Still, just because Joe Flacco was named the Week 1 starter doesn't mean that Shedeur Sanders can't become the Browns' QB1 at some point in the 2025 season.