Whispers surfaced back in May suggesting that the Cleveland Browns could make 2025 fifth-round draft pick Shedeur Sanders available to other teams if veteran Deshaun Watson emerged this summer as the club’s Week 1 starting quarterback.
More recently, former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson teased that he has some inside information and knows that “Watson is the starting quarterback” for the Browns. During a Monday morning appearance on ESPN Cleveland, longtime Cleveland sports personality Tony Rizzo shared a surprising update about Sanders.
Are the Browns getting calls about the availability of Shedeur Sanders during the NFL’s summer break?
“There are talks and ongoing calls about the availability of Shedeur Sanders,” Rizzo said. “The Browns, for whatever reason, don’t think he’s the guy. That’s my opinion. And I’m sure they’ll say, ‘What are you talking about? He’s in a quarterback battle.’ OK. But I’m going to say right now, for the record, that I don’t think the four quarterbacks are going to camp on July 28. Nothing is imminent, but the calls are being made, and I think it’s probably in the best interest of both parties here.”
Rizzo was referencing how Sanders and Watson are on track to share the Browns quarterback room this summer with 2025 third-round choice Dillon Gabriel and 2026 sixth-round selection Taylen Green. Gabriel allegedly “had a very nice spring” and could enter September as Cleveland’s QB3. However, he also could be Watson’s primary backup if the Browns send Sanders elsewhere before Week 1 of the regular season arrives.
One theory about certain Shedeur Sanders reports
Multiple reports insisted earlier in June that Sanders closed the gap in the competition versus Watson before Cleveland’s mandatory minicamp wrapped up on June 11. While reacting to Rizzo’s comments, ESPN Cleveland’s Aaron Goldhammer offered a theory about those Sanders-related stories.
“The whole momentum, all of a sudden, when we got to mandatory minicamp that Shedeur had closed the gap, that was very curious to me,” Goldhammer said. “It made me sit here and say to myself…’Are they trying to drum up interest in [Sanders]?'”
Rizzo responded: “Yes.”
Those running the Browns will say plenty about how they view Sanders if they attempt to land former Texas Tech Red Raiders
quarterback Brendan Sorsby via the supplemental draft that will take place on or before July 16. It’s unclear if the Browns have any real interest in taking a flier on the controversial prospect next month.
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