NFL Week 9 Lessons: Browns Should Stand Pat With Shedeur Sanders at QB

This was the final Sunday before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline, and a few quarterbacks could be dealt before then.

Perhaps Kirk Cousins, Geno Smith and Gardner Minshew II are on the trade block. All three signal-callers lost Sunday and play for teams with losing records. Suddenly, it has become a buyer’s market for quarterback-needy teams. That means the Vikings have options if they decide to bench Kyler Murray and don’t trust backup Carson Wentz, who will fill in for the injured Murray on Monday night against the Bills.

Meanwhile, the Browns appear set with Shedeur Sanders, who had an impressive season debut in Cleveland’s 23–22 overtime loss against the Saints.

Even if no quarterbacks get traded in the coming days, expect a few veterans to lose their starting jobs this week.

Here’s what else we learned from Week 9’s action.

Browns should stand pat with Shedeur Sanders at QB

Initially, I was on board with my colleague Conor Orr that the Browns needed to be aggressive on the trade market for a QB. Then Sanders delivered a sensational performance (19-of-31, 297 yards, 2 TDs) in the overtime loss to the Saints on Sunday. I’m now thinking Cleveland might have its signal-caller of the future.

Let me say that again: Maybe, perhaps, possibly … potentially, the Browns have something with Sanders. I’m not close to saying he should be handed the quarterback job for 2027, but the team needs to see more of him for the rest of this season. That means taking the job from incumbent starter Deshaun Watson, who’s in concussion protocol. Watson has played well at times this season, but offers no long-term hope or value.

Sanders instilled belief in the entire offense by keeping his eyes downfield despite a barrage of hits Sunday. He showed toughness and improvement as a passer, including on the play where Saints defensive end Chase Young nearly crushed him before Sanders unleashed a 30-yard rocket to Jerry Jeudy to set up the game-tying field goal that sent the game to overtime.

Shedeur Sanders takes a big hit but delivers a strike to Jerry Jeudy!

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— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2026

Sanders was a different quarterback, and his best trait was the one we already knew about. He’s supremely confident, and it says a lot that his swagger hasn’t diminished even with all that has happened since his draft-day slide last year.

Some might say that the Browns (5–4) should still be aggressive on the trade market for a non-quarterback because they might have something in Sanders and could make a run at the AFC North title (the Steelers and Bengals are tied atop the standings with 6–2 records). However, Cleveland has a chance to find out whether Sanders can make it work with this current version of the roster, with all the young pieces this team has at its disposal. On Sunday, Sanders made several key plays with rookie receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston and second-year tight end Harold Fannin Jr.

The Browns have finally built a sturdy foundation in this rebuild and don’t need to disrupt it by shifting to a short-term mindset. Cleveland should stand pat at the deadline and allow Sanders to audition the rest of the season.

It’s time for the Raiders and Cardinals to trade their veteran QBs

Las Vegas and Arizona need to prioritize the future and clear the way for rookies Fernando Mendoza and Carson Beck, respectively.

The Raiders (4–5) didn’t get crushed Sunday by the 49ers solely because Cousins threw three interceptions in a 38–17 defeat. The entire operation should take blame for that one, but Las Vegas has a golden opportunity to get a valuable pick for a player who isn’t in their long-term plans. It’s not ideal to have the draft’s No. 1 pick make his starting debut against the reigning-champ Seahawks in Week 10, but the trade deadline is Tuesday.

The @49ers intercept Kirk Cousins and start the second half with a BANG

📺: FOX/FOX One pic.twitter.com/yv1RbSin4A
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 8, 2026

It’s time to throw Mendoza into the fire and say goodbye to Cousins, who might be worth a Day 2 pick for a quarterback-needy team. (We’re all looking at you, Minnesota.)

As for the Cardinals (3–6), they’ve already traded one veteran quarterback, sending Jacoby Brissett and a fifth-round pick to the Ravens in exchange for fourth- and seventh-round picks. Now they should strongly consider moving Minshew for more picks because it would help the rebuild. The Cardinals need to know what they have in Beck, the rookie third-rounder who impressed in the preseason. Arizona could either use its first-round pick in April 2027 on a quarterback or possibly build around Beck, who could make his debut at home against Myles Garrett and the Rams next week.

Beck guided Miami to the college national championship game against Mendoza’s Indiana squad in January. Now both quarterbacks could be making their NFL debuts on the same day.

Rams need to strike a deal with the Jaguars to acquire WR Brian Thomas Jr.

If Puka Nacua’s knee injury is serious, Rams GM Les Snead should find a way to convince Jaguars GM James Gladstone to send Thomas to Los Angeles.

The Rams (5–4) likely had no interest in being buyers at the trade deadline because they had gotten back on track with Sunday’s 20–13 victory over the Commanders, which gave them a record over .500 for the first time this season. Garrett was also a difference-maker (three sacks, one forced fumble) in his first game back since the season-opening loss against the 49ers in Australia.

Garrett’s dominance showed the Rams that they can thrust themselves back into the Super Bowl mix despite everything that occurred the first two months of the season.

However, L.A. might be an average team if it’s forced to play without Nacua for a long stretch. The star receiver was practically the entire offense against the Commanders on Sunday, recording 14 catches for 150 yards and one touchdown. L.A.’s second-leading receiver was 2025 seventh-round pick Konata Mumpfield, who had two catches for 20 yards.

Nacua had been doing the heavy lifting for Matthew Stafford’s passing attack since Davante Adams sustained a hamstring injury in Week 6. Adams might not be back for another month even if his recovery goes well.

Snead needs to call up his good friend Gladstone, who spent a decade working under Snead before taking the job with Jacksonville, and work out a deal for the speedy Thomas, the 2024 first-round pick who has seen his targets diminish while playing behind Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers. Thomas isn't as versatile as Nacua, but he could at least stretch the field and open up the running game for the two-headed tandem of Blake Corum and Kyren Williams.

Brian Thomas Jr. starts the scoring in Jacksonville!

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— NFL (@NFL) November 1, 2026

It might cost Snead multiple picks to get a deal done because the Rams’ 2027 third-round pick belongs to the Chiefs due to the Trent McDuffie trade. Once McDuffie is cleared to play, perhaps as soon as next week, the Rams could become a dominant defense. The same likely can’t be said for the offense if reinforcements don’t arrive before Tuesday’s trade deadline and with Nacua sidelined.

QB Michael Penix Jr. has a murky future in Atlanta … again

It’s unfair to speculate about Penix’s future with the Falcons because he didn’t have long to lead an offense that averaged 31 points per game with him on the field.

Atlanta opened the season 0–2 with Penix sidelined, but once the third-year signal-caller returned to the lineup, he sparked his unit as the Falcons scored at least 23 points in Penix’s first five games and went 3–2 during that span.

However, the optimistic stretch is quickly fading after the Falcons’ rough two-game losing streak, including Sunday’s 34–17 loss against the Bengals in Madrid and last week’s ugly 16–0 shutout in a rain-soaked Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay.

Penix played just O.K. in the international game Sunday, going 20-of-31 for 162 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Also, Penix showed some mobility, which isn’t really a strength of his, rushing for 50 yards on three scrambles. But there’s no way to defend Penix’s Week 8 performance in Tampa Bay, where he threw four interceptions and was outplayed by Baker Mayfield, who didn’t even complete a pass on that rainy day.

What’s transpired over the past two games is likely enough for the Falcons’ front office to start wondering again whether they have a franchise quarterback on the current roster. Or maybe they never stopped thinking about that because Penix wasn’t drafted by this regime, which now consists of GM Ian Cunningham and president of football Matt Ryan. Additionally, it’s not like the Falcons went 5–0 or 4–1 during Penix’s impressive stretch.

The best way for Penix to keep his job is to win games. At 3–6, the Falcons must weigh all options, including drafting a quarterback with their first-round pick. This franchise has to be short on patience with an eight-year playoff drought that might be worse than the Jets’ 15-year drought, given that the Falcons reside in the subpar NFC South.

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