The Cleveland Browns have their biggest game in years up next as they get set to take on the 4-1 Baltimore Ravens. This matchup will go a long way toward determining whether the Browns are serious about contending or not, and the fact that Lamar Jackson won’t be suiting up makes this a must-win game for Cleveland.
New head coach Todd Monken has a golden opportunity to stick it to his former team as well. His guys will be even more motivated to help him beat Baltimore for the first time, and hopefully some of the rumors swirling around the organization won’t serve as a distraction.
Backup quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ name has surfaced in trade talks since he hired an agent and because Dillon Gabriel is about to return. His future is up in the air with three weeks left until the trade deadline and The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones recently wrote about the latest intel he is hearing as the deadline nears.
“Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry is not shy about making deals. We are still just a few months removed from Berry sending a first-ballot Hall of Famer to the Super Bowl favorites. Still, even with that context, after talking to multiple league and team sources, I’d be more surprised if he dealt quarterback Shedeur Sanders before this year’s trade deadline,” Jones wrote.
Sanders’ place within this organization is a lot different than it was six weeks ago. He had a strong camp and preseason and looked to have the inside track to the starting quarterback job at one point, but Deshaun Watson’s resurgence has potentially sealed Sanders’ fate and erased any path he had to starting for the Browns again.
Just like last season, there’s no path to having four active and healthy quarterbacks on the roster. Most likely, either Sanders or Gabriel has to go. This is not the position the front office had hoped for when drafting both of them in 2025, but with Watson potentially turning this team around and with two first-round picks in 2027, it doesn’t do Sanders or Gabriel any good to wallow in obscurity anymore.
It would probably be easier to trade Sanders in the offseason, which could be why he finally got some representation. Jones and some other analysts don’t see it happening over the next three weeks, but you never know what can happen. The whole season hinges on this Ravens game and all trade discussions will have to be on hold until we all get more clarity after seeing which Browns team shows up on Sunday.
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