Shedeur Sanders remains the Browns’ QB2 behind Deshaun Watson (Getty Images)
The numbers were modest, but he gained real starting experience and earned a Rookie of the Week nod in Week 14. 22, he gave 500 backpacks filled with school supplies to students at Kirk Middle School and Caledonia Elementary in East Cleveland. The NFLPA named him Week 3 Community MVP and is donating $10,000 to his foundation. He is also now eligible for the Alan Page Community Award, which adds a $100,000 donation.
Then came word that Gabriel is due to come off injured reserve with a back injury, and the talk came roaring back.
At mandatory minicamp this summer, coach Todd Monken said Sanders was “being more decisive. He told WEWS he likes “showing the positive side to things” in places that mostly get negative attention online. A late September report said Cleveland had no plans to move Sanders or Gabriel. Jeremy Fowler said on ESPN Cleveland that the Browns would listen if the right offer came. A team would likely need a major quarterback injury and a thick file on Sanders, and he called that kind of interest a “hit-or-miss proposition” because Sanders had a rough predraft process.
This is not new territory for him. Last season he took over when Gabriel got hurt against the Ravens and kept the starting role. Off the field, he has given the story a second line. On Sept. Not soon, but the rumors will not die. Rookie Taylen Green is a developmental piece they want to keep, so the name that goes would be Sanders or Gabriel. Fowler also cooled the market. That points to a patient plan. Some voices have tied owner Jimmy Haslam to Arch Manning, but that is chatter, not a team move. For Sanders, the practical problem is plain. His trade value stays low while he sits, and sitting is the one thing he cannot change right now.
Heavy noted that moving Sanders before the offseason makes little sense unless the Browns intend to draft their next starter.