The Cleveland Browns are two days away from submitting their unofficial 53-man roster, and blows keep on coming the way of rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Cleveland yanked Sanders in the final minutes of its last preseason game of the summer on Saturday, August 23, which the Browns played against the Los Angeles Rams. Sanders started the second half, though head coach Kevin Stefanski chose to go with Tyler Huntley in the two-minute drill that decided the game.
“I didn’t know I was out. I was on the bike, I was powering up for that two-minute drive. That’s a situation every quarterback dreams about,” Sanders told reporters during the postgame. “That’s a situation I’ve been in before. I thought I was in, but then he told me I wasn’t.”
Some have read the call by Stefanski as a lack of faith in Sanders, calling into question his status for the initial roster. Huntley had a strong preseason for the Browns in 2024, though fell short of making the roster. Cleveland ostensibly brought Huntley in this summer only to cover snaps during a period of time when Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett were all battling injuries.
With his future in Cleveland now at least mildly in question, Sanders got wind of more bad news on Sunday, August 24, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived his brother and collegiate teammate, safety Shilo Sanders, from their roster.
“Buccaneers informed rookie safety Shilo Sanders today that he is being waived, per agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey, who added ‘we’re hoping he gets claimed on waivers,’” Adam Schefter of ESPN reported via X.
Tampa Bay’s decision came one day after officials ejected Shilo Sanders from a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills for throwing a punch during a play.
Shedeur Sanders’ Preseason Started Off Well, Has Gone Downhill in Recent Weeks
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders’ preseason in Cleveland started well, after multiple aforementioned injuries to Pickett and Gabriel thrust the fifth-round pick into the starting lineup against the Carolina Panthers for the first preseason contest of August.
Sanders went 14-of-23 for 138 yards and 2 TDs in that contest. Huntley was the only other quarterback to see time in the game.
Gabriel started the second preseason game of the year, in which Sanders didn’t play due to health recovery concerns. Huntley did appear in that contest, however.
Gabriel got the most run in game No. 3 over the weekend, while QB1 Joe Flacco went 9-of-10 under center. Sanders finished the outing 3-of-6 and took five sacks for a total loss of 41 yards.
Huntley went 1-of-1 on the final drive, which ended in a Browns’ field goal and brought the team to 3-0 on the season.
Shedeur Sanders Predicted as Member of Browns’ Initial 53-Man Roster
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Stefanski spoke as to why the team went with Huntley on the final drive of the preseason despite questions still surrounding Sanders and the position group as a whole with cutdown day approaching.
“Yeah, obviously we didn’t play great as an offense in the second half. That’s never on one person,” Stefanski told reporters. “So we can be better in a bunch of areas, and just felt like we wanted to give Snoop [Huntley] a last drive.”
While a nice sentiment if Huntley is on his way out the door, giving the last drive before Week 1 — particularly one in such a high-leverage type of situation — to a player who won’t be on the team in a few days seems like the worst way to spend a valuable repetition resource.
For what it’s worth, ESPN predicted on Saturday that the Browns will carry four quarterbacks into the regular season and that Sanders will be among them.
“[GM Andrew] Berry said he views the end of the roster as developmental spots. That line of thinking could lead the Browns to keep all four quarterbacks and continue to develop their rookie passers early in the season,” Daniel Oyefusi wrote. “Deshaun Watson will begin the season on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to rehab his Achilles injury.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Shedeur Sanders Gets Tough Family News as Browns Cutdown Day Nears appeared first on Heavy Sports.