Skip Bayless Calls Out Browns GM For ‘Disrespecting’ Shedeur Sanders

The Cleveland Browns have seemingly been going through a bit of an organizational shift in philosophy over the past week or two. All signs were pointing toward Shedeur Sanders being the starting quarterback in 2026 while they ride out Deshaun Watson’s contract, but owner Jimmy Haslam’s recent comments indicate that may not be the case.

ESPN’s Tony Grossi believes Haslam has his eyes on Arch Manning in the 2027 draft, which many others have believed to be the plan as well. As for 2026, Haslam recently walked back his claim last year when he said that the Watson trade was a swing and a miss, while new head coach Todd Monken left the door open to having a QB competition for the Week 1 job.

The organization seemingly cooling off on the Sanders hype has drawn the ire of Skip Bayless. During a recent episode of The Arena: Gridiron, he ranted about how tired he is of the Shedeur disrespect.

“I just get tired of the Shedeur disrespect. Andrew Berry saying if there’s a quarterback there, we’re going to draft another quarterback. I saw a franchise quarterback, but I saw one at Colorado,” said Bayless.

.@RealSkipBayless is TIRED of the Shedeur disrespect after Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam gave praise to Deshaun Watson. 👀 pic.twitter.com/JpBUhxy5XH

— The Arena: Gridiron (@ArenaGridiron) April 3, 2026

Bayless also spoke about how it irked him to see a few people criticizing projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza for patting the ball while he threw at his pro day, while Sanders was heavily criticized for doing the same thing last year. Granted, Mendoza won a Heisman and a National Championship while leading Indiana to an undefeated season, so he gets more benefit of the doubt, but Bayless doesn’t see it that way.

Sanders’ supporters are loud, and it’s valid to be a bit confused by Cleveland’s plan at this point. Of course, it’s not reasonable to expect the Browns to have their quarterback situation figured out in the first week of April, but it’s to be expected since a new coaching staff often means a new quarterback comes with them.

It’s fair for some to be upset about Sanders not being handed the starting job, but it would be disingenuous to act like he should be handed anything after throwing ten picks in eight games and completing only 56 percent of his passes. He very well could still be the guy, but Monken isn’t wrong for wanting him to earn it.