Overview
- The Browns have not named a starter and plan to decide the Week 1 quarterback during training camp and the preseason after evaluating live, padded practice and game reps.
- Shedeur Sanders has publicly declared lofty career goals and returned to the Browns’ facility for extra preparation, signaling increased urgency in the competition.
- Coaches and local reporters praise Sanders’s improved processing, field vision and toughness while also noting the evaluation needs pads and live reps to be meaningful.
- National analysts have flagged concrete flaws from Sanders’s rookie tape — slow processing, inconsistent footwork, 23 sacks and a 7 TD/10 INT stat line in seven starts — and projected he may not be a franchise-level QB unless he corrects those issues.
- Insiders say Cleveland currently does not intend to trade Sanders, leaving the team options to keep both quarterbacks this season and to use retained 2027 draft capital if it pursues a long-term solution.