The Cleveland Browns currently have four quarterbacks competing for the starting job, but it’s likely the team moves at least one before the end of August.
The most logical outcome is the Browns trade one of their two veterans, whomever fails to win the starting gig for Week 1 between Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, and keep the other alongside rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. The veteran can take the heat of a brutal six-game stretch to open the season and clear a path for one, or both, of the rookies to audition later for longterm roles in Cleveland.
However, former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert took to social media Sunday, August 3, and suggested that a recent decision by the Browns indicates they intend to trade Sanders.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported news that the team would hold Sanders out of Saturday’s practice due to what Cleveland described as “shoulder soreness.” Benkert shared that report on his X account with his own take on what it actually means.
“This is what they do before a trade,” he wrote.
Precisely which franchise might want a fifth-round rookie QB who currently occupies the fourth spot in a four-man race to captain one of the worst teams in the league last season is the kind of discussion that could fill a 15-minute block on most sports debate programming. That is even more true in Sanders’ case, as every franchise passed on him multiple times back in April.
However, one spot that makes legitimate sense is the Los Angeles Rams, where 37-year-old Matthew Stafford is battling health issues and the depth chart isn’t particularly promising otherwise.
Viable Chance Rams, Other NFL Teams Have Shifted Positions on Browns QB Shedeur Sanders
GettyQuarterback Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said Stafford is “week-to-week” with back soreness. The quarterback is under contract for just two more seasons, while Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett IV are the top two backups on the depth chart as of Monday.
Sanders did fall to the fifth round, though post-draft reporting indicated most teams who passed on him were turned off by Sanders’ approach to the pre-draft interview process and/or the potential for intense media scrutiny/drama involving Sanders’ high-profile father, former NFL great and current Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders.
The younger Sanders has been anything but a distraction in training camp, speaking in a team-first fashion publicly and accepting his current role on the roster with gratitude and a strong work ethic.
That, plus the fact that the majority of draft analysts afforded him a first- or second-round grade based on his talent could combine to make a team like the Rams, now potentially QB-needy in the short- and medium-term, reconsider a player they passed on a few months prior.
Browns May Have Plans at QB in 2026 That Make Shedeur Sanders Expendable
GettyQuarterback Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said recently that his team’s plan was never to select Sanders and it came down to a decision from general manager Andrew Berry on the morning of the draft’s final day.
As such, if Sanders has trade value at this point, there are reasons a deal might make sense. Cleveland drafted Gabriel higher than Sanders, which means he will probably get to audition first during the regular season and maybe plays well enough that Sanders never gets a starting nod in 2025.
Or the Browns could surprise early, and either Flacco or Pickett (or some combination of the two) plays well enough to keep Cleveland relevant into Week 11 or 12, or the like.
Perhaps the Browns have already decided they will use their first-round pick in 2026 and/or the first-rounder they acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars to make a move for one of the top QBs in a stronger draft at the position next spring.
The point is that Cleveland has real optionality under center because of how the front office and coaching staff have approached the position this offseason. The Browns might catch flack from their fans for moving Sanders, but if they can do it for a fourth-round pick or better, that is value added based on where they selected him.
And Cleveland could quickly placate its fanbase by drafting Cade Klubnik of Clemson, Garrett Nussmeier of LSU or even Arch Manning of Texas next April.
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