Shedeur Sanders reveals his true feelings about QB competition on Browns

Owen Crisafulli

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Shedeur Sanders reveals his true feelings about QB competition on Browns image

The Cleveland Browns quarterback room has received a lot of attention in recent weeks, thanks in large part to the team's decision to end Shedeur Sanders' fall in the 2025 NFL draft by selecting him with the No. 144 pick in the fifth round. Despite his slide down the board, Sanders still could be the team's Week 1 starter, but he has a lot of competition for the job.

In addition to Sanders, the Browns have 40-year-old Joe Flacco, former first-round pick Kenny Pickett, and third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel on the depth chart. They also have Deshaun Watson, but he is expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2025 campaign after he re-ruptured his Achilles back in January.

Thanks in large part to Watson's injury, the job is wide open for the taking, and Sanders knows that. While much has been made of Cleveland's quarterback room, Sanders revealed that he is a big fan of everyone, even though he's competing with them for snaps.

"I'll say we all different characters," Sanders said in an interview with Kay Adams. "It's funny going in there and seeing Joe everyday ... At practice I'm like, 'Wow, I'm really teammates with Joe Flacco right now. We're on the same team!' That's cool."

"And then of course with Kenny, the experience he has, being in the league for these years, it's cool just seeing the process of it. And Deshaun, of course, he's active in there, he's in all the meetings, and it's cool talking to him."

Sanders threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2024 with the Colorado Buffaloes, with the expectation heading into the draft being that he would get selected in the first round. Instead, he fell to the third day of the draft, with the Browns finally trading up in the fifth round to select him.

Cleveland has quite a quarterback competition as a result, with Sanders being the name everyone is watching. And while the outside world wants to pit him against his teammates, Sanders indicated with this response that he is having none of that.

Owen Crisafulli

Owen Crisafulli is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He recently received his Master's in Business Administration from Nichols College after obtaining his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management while running his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.