The Cleveland Browns haven’t given rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders a shot to start yet this season, but if he plays well when they do, it could provide the team with a new path toward a franchise quarterback.
Cleveland could stick with Sanders, though there’s also the potential for a trade with the Arizona Cardinals and two-time Pro Bowler Kyler Murray, who is currently on IR with a foot injury.
The Browns aren’t likely to ever attract an elite quarterback via free agency unless they offer an overpay akin to what they gave Deshaun Watson following his trade from the Houston Texans. And given how horribly that has turned out, with a salary cap hit upwards of $80 million coming in 2026 (save for yet another restructure), the Browns have three pathways to a franchise quarterback: turn Sanders or Dillon Gabriel into one, draft such a player with one (or both) of their first-round picks in 2026, or trade for one like Murray.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report suggested option No. 3 in a proposal he authored on Saturday, November 8.
Gabriel certainly hasn’t looked like a long-term starter, and Sanders hasn’t seen the regular-season field yet. The problem is that Cleveland may stumble into too many wins to chase a top 2026 QB prospect, especially if only one or two enter the draft.
The Browns are facing a tricky cap situation because Deshaun Watson is still on the books. However, they’re projected to have $18.2 million in cap space next year. Creating the space to absorb Murray’s $22.8 million base salary wouldn’t be nearly as difficult as, say, trying to sign [Daniel] Jones on the open market.
Cleveland would also have to include a third-round pick next year and a second-round pick in 2026 in Knox’s hypothetical trade scenario.
Browns Have Been Erratic at QB All Year, Have Yet to Show They Value Shedeur Sanders
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
While it doesn’t make a ton of sense to deal Sanders before the team knows what it has in him, Cleveland hasn’t necessarily operated in a sensical fashion under center this season.
The Browns’ first move of the offseason at QB was to trade a fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Kenny Pickett. Pickett then suffered a hamstring injury in late July and the team traded him to the Las Vegas Raiders for a fifth-rounder in return, never playing Pickett a single regular-season snap.
Cleveland also signed Joe Flacco to a one-year deal, started him for four games and then yanked him for Gabriel ahead of Week 5 before trading Flacco to the division rival Cincinnati Bengals just days later. Flacco has averaged 313.5 yards passing and thrown for 11 TDs and just 2 INTs in Cincinnati, while the Bengals’ offense is averaging nearly 33 points per contest over his four-game stretch as the starter.
Before all of that, the Browns decided to trade up in the fifth round and draft Sanders despite taking Gabriel late in the third round the day before. The plan in Cleveland was never to draft more than one signal-caller in 2025.
And now, the Browns are now stubbornly sticking with Gabriel out of the bye week despite a 1-3 start to his career, with the rookie coming off his worst NFL game in a blowout loss to the New England Patriots in Week 8.
Cardinals Poised to Trade Kyler Murray Next Offseason
GettyArizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
Cleveland is 2-6 and heading to New York to play the Jets (1-7), one of just a few teams with an even worse record.
It’s a perfect landing spot for Sanders to get his first start, but the Browns have made it clear that won’t happen. There is immense pressure on the franchise, both from the fanbase and media, to go with Sanders at some point soon, so that will probably happen.
But the team isn’t set up for success, and Sanders won’t be either, with literally the lowest-ranked offensive line in the league. If Sanders shows some flashes, the Cardinals may well be willing to take a swing on him and move on from Murray in the process.
“[Jacoby] Brissett … is playing better than Murray did. With Murray injured (but, we’re told, healing), the Cardinals can kick the can by saying Brissett is healthy and Murray isn’t,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote Wednesday. “Then there’s the question of whether Murray will even be on the team in 2026. It feels as if a divorce is coming, possibly in the form of a trade. If the Cardinals officially bench a healthy Murray, that will make it harder to maximize the return.”
Murray is making $230 million but is only under contract through 2028. He has accumulated close to 20,500 passing yards to go along with 121 touchdowns and 60 interceptions in seven NFL seasons. He has also carried the football for close to 3,200 yards and 32 scores.
If the Browns can turn Sanders, who they haven’t valued to this point, into three seasons of a proven professional QB (even one with injury problems), it could prove the stability the franchise needs amid its current youth movement/rebuild.
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