Shedeur Sanders earned a victory in his first NFL start for the Cleveland Browns last week. This gave the franchise enough confidence to name him their starter again for their Week 13 game against the San Francisco 49ers.
While this should be an exciting development for his future outlook, one analyst still believes something is off with the situation.
Browns’ handling of Shedeur Sanders Questioned
The Browns have stuck with Dillon Gabriel as their starting quarterback ever since trading away Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this season. Their hand was essentially forced last week when Gabriel was ruled out with a concussion, but after Sanders earned a win, he earned another start in Week 13 against the 49ers.
NFL analyst Mike Florio recently published a piece with “Pro Football Talk” questioning the way the franchise has handled its rookie quarterback’s situation in general. He pondered why they are still publicly reluctant to commit to him as their locked-in starter.
Florio first pointed out something previously reported by another NFL insider:
“Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, in a very early drop of a Sunday Splash! report says that the Browns are ‘open to giving Sanders an extended look for the rest of this season,’ with the outcome hinging on how he plays. That should be obvious. If he plays well, he keeps playing. It shouldn’t need to be leaked and reported. Ride the wave, don’t tap the brakes.”
He then said, “That doesn’t mean the Brown should build false hype. But why act like a parent who responds to a kid coming home with a 100 on a test by saying, ‘Let’s wait until we see your full report card, Bart’?”
“It feeds into the vague notion that the Browns aren’t fully enamored with the player they perhaps drafted not to be the potential long-term answer but a shorter-term asset. It’s a product of the franchise’s obsession with analytics,” Florio said, pointing out how the initial plan of the team does not seem to work.
He then pointed out why there are so many speculations about the Browns and Sanders, writing, “And so, while it’s kooky to say Sanders is being sabotaged, it’s not a stretch to say that something seems off. And when something seems off, that’s when imaginations run wild.”
“Of all teams, the Browns should be celebrating the possibility that their 42nd starter since the team returned to the NFL in 1999 could delay a 43rd name from joining the back of the never-ending jersey,” stated Florio.
Gabriel has been a disaster during the 2025 NFL season for the Browns, ranking 39th of 40 qualified quarterbacks in PFSN’s Impact Rankings this year.
Sanders turned in a decent statistical performance against the Las Vegas Raiders in his first career start, and most importantly, he managed to secure a victory. This earned him a Week 13 start, but the franchise is still non-committal beyond that.
