The organization planted seeds of doubt about the Browns’ answer to the most impactful position in sports. Neither GM Andrew Berry nor team owner Jimmy Haslam endorsed Sanders as their 2026 answer.
On a day when the Cleveland Browns knew fans wanted answers and accountability, team brass didn’t hide the direction the franchise must go.
“The offense, it’s no secret that’s where we’re going to invest most of our resources this offseason,” general manager Andrew Berry said.
Team owner Jimmy Haslam agreed that “we have a lot of work to do on the roster, particularly on the offensive side of the roster.”
That neither man crowned any quarterback on their roster as the 2026 leader was telling — not because Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson have no chance, but because it is clear that none of them has a guarantee.
A new head coach will arrive in Cleveland soon, after the Browns fired Kevin Stefanski after six seasons featured a 45-56 (.446) regular-season record.
That coach will have meaningful say on who starts at quarterback for the Browns next season and what will be most highly valued at the position.
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That the Browns will hire an offensive-minded head coach to develop that quarterback is no guarantee: The job will be “to make sure that the offense is run and developed well,” Berry said, “as opposed to necessarily having to be the person that directly does it.”
But losing, particularly in three- and five-win seasons the last two years, cost Stefanski his job. And the Browns know that finding a lasting quarterback answer is the No. 1 factor that will correlate with turning around their win total.
No one is saying aloud that Sanders, Gabriel and Watson cannot be the answer. But the organization planted seeds of doubt Monday about the Browns’ answer to the most impactful position in sports.
Neither Berry nor Haslam endorsed Sanders, their starter to end the season, as their 2026 answer. The next head coach will have a say, and Sanders himself acknowledged that “when it comes to those grown-up decisions that’s not me.”
What the Browns do know, and were willing to say, is that they need an answer quickly.
“At the end of the day, the National Football League is a quarterback league, right?” seven-time Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio said. “If you have an elite quarterback in this league, it allows you to be a little bit more sustained in your success. And it's not me saying like, ‘Do we know if Shedeur or Dillon or Deshaun or Bailey [Zappe], any of these guys is that guy,’ right?
“We have those guys in our locker room. But until you have a guy that can stay healthy and can be on the field and be that guy for your team, it's hard to have that sustained success. …
“Until you find one that's stable and can lead your team, it's going to be hard to not ride the roller coaster of wins and losses.”
After high-profile drafting, what do Browns make of Sanders’ rookie year?
The Browns do not regret that they evaluated and practiced with four quarterbacks during the offseason and training camp.
Considering depth was not the problem. Missing on a higher ceiling was.
“We believe in competition in every room on the roster, and quarterback’s no different,” Berry said. “Quarterback is the most important position in sports. We all know that. And part of the equation with quarterback is the evaluation part. Part of it is the development part as well.”
The Browns traded away the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft rather than spend a premium pick on quarterback as some expected. Later in the draft, they selected two quarterbacks — Gabriel in the third round followed by Sanders in the fifth. It was a curious move. And yet, Berry believes philosophically in expending significant resources at quarterback.
“I wouldn't necessarily say draft a quarterback every year, I don't believe it being that,” Berry told Yahoo Sports last June from minicamp. “But if you're in position to make a bet on a quarterback that you think can be a quality starter or some level of high-level proficiency, understand that it's not always going to pan out. That's a bet you should be making because you just never know.”
The philosophy suggests the Browns will not stay put at quarterback this spring, the question of their acquisition more a question of how rather than if. In their 2025 season, the Browns recognized their transitional stage and built up the roster at some positions. But while their defense posted its second top-five unit in three years, the Browns’ offense ranked bottom-five in offense for the second straight season.
A year after ranking last in scoring, the Browns ranked second-to-last this year. In what Berry and Haslam described as a year of roster “transition,” the franchise evaluated its rookies at length.
The Browns won three of Sanders’ seven games compared to one of Gabriel's six, wins often considered the “most important” quarterback statistic. In traditional quarterback stats, their performance was mixed.
Sanders averaged 193 passing yards per start compared to Gabriel’s 153, while completing 59.5% of his attempts to Gabriel’s 58.9%. But Sanders’ 0.8 touchdown-to-interception ratio (seven touchdowns, nine interceptions in seven games) paled in comparison to Gabriel’s 3.0 (six touchdowns to two interceptions in six games). Sanders’ 72.9 passer rating trailed Gabriel’s 78.9.
Sanders earned the right to continue starting and warranting evaluation through season’s end. But with below-league-average metrics, the Browns are not saying right now that he’s earned the right to start next season.
“We saw a lot of progress with Shedeur this year,” Berry said. “I think that’s both mentally, physically, playing the position. He’s still very much a work in progress like many rookie quarterbacks are. But I think we saw some really good things in terms of his playmaking, his accuracy, his ability to extend [plays] with his feet. And I think I’d also give him credit as well as our offensive staff for bringing him along in terms of his pocket management, his situational awareness and things of that nature.
“Now that all being said, we’re going to do our work on the quarterback market. It’s too important of a position and it’s something that has to be solidified. I can’t sit here and tell you today, you know, whether the solution for or the starter in 2026 is internal or external. But it’s something that we’re going to work through over the next several weeks. And quite honestly, the new head coach will also have a lot of input into that as well.”
If Browns follow recent QB trends, Sanders’ chance to start will be an uphill climb
Perhaps the best thing the Browns can do for their quarterback future is hire the coach they best believe will lead their organization, independent of any single quarterback style.
Berry acknowledged that “schemes, they really do come and go.” An NFC assistant coach whose team helped their quarterback rebound after a coaching change felt no single schematic factor was the answer in their club.
“I think they just need to find the best coach possible,” the assistant told Yahoo Sports. “You just need to hire the best guy for each job of the organization vs. being predetermined to get a QB guru or whatever you think you need stylistically.
“That way you’re able to pivot if it turns out [the quarterback] isn’t the guy, but at least you hired the right coach.”
This year’s sophomore quarterback class is evidence of that.
Setting a historic pace, teams selected six quarterbacks in the first 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft. Second overall pick Jayden Daniels took the Commanders to the NFC Championship game in his first season under center. This year, three more 2024 quarterbacks have led their teams to a playoff berth.
Selected at first, third and 12th respectively, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Bo Nix vary in style and NFL early-career experience. While Nix arrived to an organization with coaching stability, receiving play calls from Super Bowl-winning Sean Payton, his counterparts each entered Year 2 with a new head coach. Their two coaching résumés differ vastly, Ben Johnson a first-time head coach who’s calling offensive plays while Mike Vrabel is a second-time head coach calling plays on neither side of the ball.
And yet, talent evaluators around the league look at each of their stories and see the success stemming from coach at least as much as quarterback. The “right” coach was hired. Neither his quality or quantity of experience determined whether he was the right coach.
Finding Mr. Right will be Berry’s job in the coming weeks, after which the group will decide how and with whom they want to augment the quarterback room. Doing nothing, while currently on track for a host of 2026 draft picks, including the sixth overall as well as a late first-round selection, would be shocking.
While free agency is always an option, 12 of the 14 starting quarterbacks in this year’s postseason were selected in the first round. Three are no longer with the team that initially drafted them, a reminder of success teams have had in recent years finding quarterbacks via trade or free agency.
That history may be a tell for the Browns brass’s next move. And it may be a tell of Sanders’ chance at keeping his starting job through 2026. Fifth-round quarterbacks face uphill battles. So do quarterbacks selected before a coach had input in that decision.
“I think overall, like as a quarterback, I showed different pieces in different games to all add up to one complete quarterback,” Sanders said. “And that’s what I had to get to in those situations — red-zone situations, field-goal situations, third-down situations, ‘where you at on the field’ situations. So, it was a lot of situations that was good. I feel like this was a good learning year for me, and I’m excited for it. Because like I say, like moving forward I’ll be prepared.
“I did what I was able to do, and I definitely grew from a lot of things. And I got experience now. So, I’m always the same: confidence-wise, I’m there. But like, that’s not in my hands. Like, that’s not my decision.
“I can’t speak on what other people feel.”
Category: General Sports
