Shedeur Sanders will have to work hard for a spot with the Cleveland Browns. After falling in the draft to the fifth round, Sanders should be in a position to potentially win a job sometime over the next year or two. However, until that point, there will be many questions about what the Browns will do as an organization at the position.
With five quarterbacks on the roster, some believe that the Browns could cut ties with Sanders. That includes USA Today’s Chris Bumbaca, who isn’t convinced that Sanders will be in Cleveland at all next month during training camp.
“By the time training camp arrives in July, Sanders said, he plans on being there. Whether Stefanski and the Browns coaching staff agree or not will determine the direction of Sanders’ rookie season,” Bumbaca wrote.
Could the Browns Cut Ties Before Training Camp?
Sanders not being invited to training camp would be a shocking decision by the Cleveland Browns.
Even if they don’t believe that he’s a starting quarterback, there’s no debate that Sanders has plenty of talent, something the organization has to work with.
With all the issues the Browns have faced at the quarterback position in recent years, cutting any player of Sanders’ caliber wouldn’t make much sense. Unless he becomes a distraction off the field, which clearly hasn’t been the case, despite what some media outlets say, there should be no chance that Sanders isn’t on a roster. However, many think it’s possible, including Pro Football Talk’s Michael Davis.
“Sanders landed in a place where he’s no sure thing to even make the roster, given that he’ll likely open training camp fourth on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel. (Deshaun Watson is also on the roster but currently rehabbing an Achilles injury.) But he says he’s willing to do whatever it takes to earn a roster spot,” Davis wrote.
Will Sanders Get the Opportunity to Compete for the Starting Job?
As of now, Sanders isn’t getting a ton of reps with the Cleveland Browns. With a quarterback competition underway, Sanders is hopeful that he’ll get an opportunity in the near future. However, according to Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, Sanders is with the crew of backups.
Despite not getting much of an opportunity to show what he has for the Browns, Sanders isn’t worried about that yet. He added that there’s no excuse because he has to be ready when the team gives him an opportunity, with the best mindset he can have.
“Life is just based on how you view different things,” Sanders said Tuesday after the Browns’ first mandatory minicamp practice. “So you can view things as you’re not getting reps in a negative way or you can view it as, OK, when it’s my time to get out there, let’s be proactive and let’s get warm, let’s get going.
“So, there’s no excuses because when you get out there, nobody cares how many reps you got whenever you get in the game. Nobody cares if you took a snap before. Everybody cares about production. So that’s the main thing when you get out there: You got to be able to produce.”