Every week seems like it is going to be the most important week of Shedeur Sanders’ NFL career. But after the Cleveland Browns made a major change to their quarterback rotation at training camp, that statement may have a little bit more truth to it.
Sanders was expected to get the first-team reps at practice on Saturday, continuing his back-and-forth with Deshaun Watson. However, Todd Monken decided to leave Watson at QB1 for a second day in a row, leading to all kinds of speculation about where the competition stands.
In fact, it was such a glaring switch that trade rumors involving Sanders resurfaced almost immediately. It also brought into question whether the Browns really want Sanders on the roster as the backup QB.
With all of that in mind, insider Zac Jackson of The Athletic recently made a big prediction about Sanders, saying not only is he going to stay on the team, but he will start multiple games for the Browns this year.
“Shedeur’s gonna start a lot of games at quarterback this year. I don’t know how many. That seems like a wild, wild scenario to me to where he would be traded,” Jackson said.
"Shedeur's gonna start a lot of games at QB this year. That seems like a wild, wild scenario to me to where he would be traded."
➡️ @AkronJackson w/ @KenCarman and @SportsBoyTony on Shedeur Sanders' situation with the #Browns pic.twitter.com/dOsyt8gvLq
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) August 11, 2026
Heading into practice on Monday, all of those potential scenarios seemed to be in doubt. But Sanders was given all the first-team reps, and he responded with one of his best days of the summer.
Now, the rest of the week leading up to the preseason opener against the Chicago Bears on Saturday should provide a little more intel on where this process is headed. Watson is expected to start that game, which would be his first live action since he tore his Achilles on Oct. 20. 2024.
Sanders would then be the first QB off the bench, and if both players emerge from the game healthy and without a disastrous performance, their battle for the starting job will extend into a joint practice against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 20, and the preseason game two days later.
Even though it is just a preseason gap, the gap between it and practice is going to be noticeable, and it will be interesting to see which of the Browns’ quarterbacks can deal with it the best.
NEXT: Insider Has Strong Belief About Browns' Plans For Bears Game
