Former Browns lineman believes "boxes haven't been checked" for Shedeur Sanders to start

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback situation is a mess. The club is intent on keeping rookie third-rounder Dillon Gabriel at the helm, while mounting pressure from the outside calls for rookie fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders to get a shot at the starting gig. Others outside of the organization have started to call for Deshaun Watson, for whom the Browns still haven’t opened the 21-day practice window, in hopes of being reactivated before the season is over.

Meanwhile, more and more draft analysts are pointing towards Cleveland selecting a passer in next year’s NFL Draft, most prominently at the top of the first round.

So, as a Cleveland native and former Browns player, where does two-time Pro Bowler LeCharles Bentley stand?

“Well, here's what I think about the quarterback situation in Cleveland. We have two rookies, and one is the fan favorite, and the other is the starter... Right now in our society, not just in Cleveland but in society, everyone wants everything right now. You know, there was a time when players were allowed to develop. Dillon hasn't shown that he's not an NFL quarterback, as of yet. The snapshot that we have is small, it's a very small snapshot of who he is as a player. What Shedeur can be, we don't know because he's the backup,” said Bentley during a phone interview with Browns OnSI.

The former St. Ignatius (OH) and Ohio State issued a warning against making too many assumptions on the club’s thinking process in regards to the depth chart at the quarterback position.

“However it’s being managed internally, I would like to believe that the organization is doing the best they can to win. I think that when we are on the outside of the building, looking in, the one thing that I always have to be mindful of -- because I've been in those buildings -- what's happening on the inside on a day to day basis we don't know. You think you know, but we don't have any idea. I read things sometimes about players that we represent, and you know, the media said, 'X, Y and Z,' and the truth of the matter is something completely different because they're not in the building, and this is one of those instances where Dillon Gabriel, he's the starter. And for whatever reason, the organization believes he's deserving of that.

“And Shedeur has not usurped him yet: be it in practice, be it in practice habits, be it in study, be it in performance. Whatever metric they use to determine who the starter should be. Apparently those boxes haven't been checked. But, do I think there's any kind of conspiracy? No, I don't. But what do I know?”

While Gabriel owns a 1-3 record as a starter for the Browns amid sharp criticism for not being able to attack the deep end of the field, until recently Sanders hadn’t even been afforded the chance to get practice reps with the starters, a move highly questioned by league observers.

So, the question now becomes: will the Browns wipe the slate clean after investing two draft picks in 2025, and go for another passer in the 2026 NFL Draft?

“Oh, I don't know. I don't have any idea what the organization is going to do, and sometimes it looks as if they don't have any idea of what they're going to do,” said Bentley to OnSI. “So I think I'll find out when everybody else does.”

Bentley was a second-round draft choice for the Saints in 2002, where he played for four seasons, two of them rewarded with a Pro Bowl nod. He signed a then-record $36 million six-year deal with the Browns, but tore his patellar tendon at the beginning of that year’s training camp, prompting the need for surgery. A staph infection contracted at team facilities not only prevented from ever playing a down for the Browns, but also nearly cost him his life.

Never far from the game, Bentley now owns a sports equipment facility that serves over 100 D-I schools and 25 out of the 32 NFL clubs. Bentley was appointed as the NFL’s Senior Advisor of Player Performance and Development in 2021, and took on a personnel and performance consultant role in 2025 with the Saints.