Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been impressive in his three starts since taking over as the starting quarterback, and he’ll look to build off of a career-best performance in Week 15 when he leads his Browns into Soldier Field for a tough matchup at the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Sanders amassed nearly 400 yards of offense and combined for four touchdowns in a loss to the Tennessee Titans, and the performance was good enough to push the Browns to name him the QB1 for the rest of the season.
Sanders’ ability to push the ball down the field has put pressure on this front office to potentially rethink its plans for the quarterback position next season.
The Browns have a pair of first-round picks in the 2026 draft and can draft a new quarterback if they want, but Sanders may be earning himself an extended look and could be the starter next year and beyond if things keep getting better.
Already with an eye toward next year, Sanders recently spoke about the loss of center Ethan Pocic, who tore his Achilles against the Titans.
Pocic is heading into free agency, and Sanders spoke about how much he hopes to play with Pocic again next season.
“Ethan, it definitely hurt that he was out. I truthfully hope I can play with him next year. I hope he’s around next year, I really do. I’m gonna make sure I’m around next year too.”
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders said he truly hopes he gets to play with C Ethan Pocic next year. Pocic’s out for rest of season with torn Achilles and is in last year of his contract.
Sanders also said he has connection with backup C Luke Wypler from Hungry Dawg periods. pic.twitter.com/baAqImOttE— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) December 10, 2025
Sanders also praised backup center Luke Wypler for stepping in and doing a solid job in Pocic’s place, and he’ll need to count on him the rest of this season. Sanders has been sacked six times in his three starts, which isn’t too bad, and hopefully, he can continue being protected even without Pocic.
The Bears only have 24 sacks this season, though they lead the league with 18 interceptions. Sanders may not have to worry too much about being under a ton of pressure on Sunday, but he’ll have to make sure he takes care of the football against that ferocious secondary.
This team could undergo plenty of changes this offseason.
Hopefully for Sanders’ sake, Pocic isn’t one of them.
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