The Cleveland Browns went into this season with a four-man quarterback competition, which is hardly the recipe to cook up a successful NFL season. Largely because of that, it’s not shocking that the Browns are 3-10 and still have plenty of questions at the QB position.
The silver lining is that fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders has looked promising enough in his three starts to convince the coaching staff to name him the starter through the rest of the regular season. He has four games left to prove that he should also be the starter in 2026 and beyond, and that quest starts with a tough matchup at the Chicago Bears in Week 15, who lead the NFL with 18 interceptions.
If things don’t go well and Sanders doesn’t convince the powers that be that he could be the franchise quarterback, the Browns still have a pair of first-round picks in 2026 if they’d like to bring in another rookie as a potential franchise QB.
That reality is lurking, and Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot recently shared that it could still be the front office’s plan.
“While they were encouraged by what they saw vs. the Titans, they’re not quite ready to take their name out of the hat for one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL draft. Three starts is a small sample size, and two of them came against teams that are currently 2-11. They need to see what he can do in these final four starts against the 9-4 Bears, 9-4 Bills, 7-5 Steelers and 4-9 Bengals before determining if he can be their starter for 2026,” Cabot said.
Sanders has had two impressive performances against the Titans and the Las Vegas Raiders, but they have four wins combined and would have two of the top three picks in the 2026 draft if the season ended today. He is going to need to have similar performances against better teams to convince the Browns to commit to him, and he has opportunities to do exactly that over the next three weeks.
Sanders and the Browns scored just eight points against the San Francisco 49ers two weeks ago, and with matchups against three potential playoff teams up next, this is make-or-break time for the rookie. Ty Simpson and Dante Moore could be in play for the Browns atop the 2026 draft if he doesn’t keep winning people over.
NEXT: Shedeur Sanders Is Quietly Elevating Another Rookie's Game
