Shedeur Sanders predicted to make Browns roster only if he beats out $2.6M QB

Shedeur Sanders predicted to make Browns roster only if he beats out $2.6M QB originally appeared on The Sporting News

With training camp well underway, the Cleveland Browns are eventually going to have to make a decision on their crowded quarterback room.

Technically, the Browns have six quarterbacks on the roster: Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and, most recently, Tyler Huntley.

Watson is presumably out for the 2025 season, and his Browns career could be over entirely. Huntley was just signed after injuries hit the rest of the position group.

Sanders, however, is getting the start in the Browns’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. That will be his first real opportunity to showcase himself and move up the depth chart, where he currently sits as QB4.

That said, there’s still a realistic chance Sanders doesn’t make the final roster. NFL teams typically don’t carry four quarterbacks. That’s why CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin believes Sanders will need to beat out one quarterback in particular: Kenny Pickett.

Flacco is the team's presumptive starter and probably would not have signed with the Browns if he didn't know that was the case. Gabriel was a Day 2 pick. Teams want their Day 2 picks to make the team. They would have to do something really bad in training camp to not make it.

That leaves Pickett, who was acquired for a fifth-round pick and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The Browns have comparatively little invested in him relative to Flacco and Gabriel, and about as much invested in him as they do in Sanders. 

The difference is that Sanders is cheaper because he's a fifth-round pick and Pickett is a former first-rounder in the final year of his rookie deal, and that the Browns have four years of team control on Sanders vs. just one on Pickett. Those factors could work in Sanders' favor if they perform at a similar level during camp. If he straight up outperforms Pickett on the field, then he would just make Cleveland's decision that much easier. 

Pickett, who is owed $2.6 million this season, does seem expendable here. But again, that depends on Sanders’ performance the rest of training camp and in preseason. As of now, no one knows how this competition will shake out.

The fact that the Browns even put themselves in this situation is baffling. Adding Sanders only further complicates Cleveland’s never-ending quarterback carousel.

Still, whether some believe the Browns are sabotaging Sanders by starting him in the first preseason game or not, it will be his chance to prove he belongs.