Shedeur Sanders will not be the Cleveland Browns‘ starting quarterback to open the season, with 40-year-old Joe Flacco winning the competition — as expected. But Flacco seems likely to serve as just a placeholder for a Browns team that’s seeking to find their quarterback of the future.
Only six quarterbacks over 40 have started double-digit games in a season (Warren Moon, Vinny Testaverde, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers), stacking the odds against Flacco to survive the year as the Browns’ starting quarterback. Furthermore, the Browns open the 2025 season with six straight games against teams that had winning records last year. So, Flacco will be asked to lead the team with the lowest projected win total in the AFC to pull off some early-season upsets.
That should open the door for Sanders to potentially come in and start at some point in 2025, but he needs to make sure he does his part and is ready mentally and physically when he gets his chance to play. Sanders already showed well in his only chance during exhibition play, completing 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 106.8 passer rating against the Carolina Panthers in a Week 1 preseason start.
Sanders’ momentum came to a brief halt in Week 2 of the preseason, missing the Browns’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to an oblique injury. However, it seems like Sanders might be building some momentum again. He’s expected to play in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams, and the rookie quarterback thinks he’s trending in the right direction on the field, too.
“My time, whenever it is, I’ll be ready for it and embrace that,” Sanders told reporters on Thursday. “In due time, I’ve got many things I need to fix. I’m not oblivious to that. All I look at it is, I’m getting more time to cook.”
Unlike his preseason debut, Sanders is expected to be the third Browns quarterback to take the field against the Rams, but that could present him with a huge opportunity. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has not named a second-string quarterback behind Flacco, with Sanders, Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel battling for that spot. Still, Sanders must make the final 53-man roster, and he is listed as the fourth-string quarterback on the team’s unofficial depth chart, but Pickett has been nursing a hamstring injury since July 26 and just returned to practice as a limited participant this week.
Along with remaining healthy, Sanders should be laser-focused on becoming intimately familiar with the playbook, take full advantage of any reps he gets with the scout team during the year and glean as much as he can by observing the daily preparation of a veteran like Flacco, and how he handles himself on game days. His comments on Thursday do seem to be a good indication that he’s doing that.
And then when it’s time to play, which seems inevitable considering Cleveland’s situation, Sanders has to show the Browns he can be the team’s quarterback of the future in the second half of the season, similar to how Brock Purdy showed that with the San Francisco 49ers in 2022, when both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo suffered injuries. Remember, Cleveland has two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, putting it in a good spot to nab a quarterback this offseason.
Longtime NFL offensive guru Norm Chow, who was the Tennessee Titans‘ offensive coordinator when Vince Young won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2006, explained the challenges that await Sanders and other young quarterbacks – and what challenges might persist even if they have initial success.
“It’s such a jump from college to pro football in my mind,” Chow told me. “The speed of the game. The complexity of the game, with the defenses and all that stuff. I think the guys that are fortunate enough to sit on a bench for a year are the guys who are ultimately going to be the most successful.”
Getting selected in the fifth round only adds to the steep hill Sanders has to climb in order to start, especially as a rookie. Matt Hasselbeck, who was selected in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, didn’t get his chance to start until his third season, when Mike Holmgren brought him along when he became the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Hasselbeck sees Sanders getting a chance to start earlier than he did, but he shared what the Browns’ rookie has to do in order to see game action.
“He took advantage of the opportunity and showed that, ‘Hey, I’m a guy who has potential,” Hasselbeck told FS1’s “The Herd.” “I’m a guy you can develop and could be the quarterback of the future here. Believe in me and give me a chance.’ And I think he’s earned that chance.”
Joe Flacco was named the Browns’ starting quarterback, as expected. But how long will he be under center for in Cleveland? (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
If Sanders follows that advice and continues to prove it on the field, there might be a natural break in the Browns’ schedule to become the team’s starting quarterback in Week 9. At that point, Cleveland could be staring at a 3-5 or 2-6 record based on a tough first-half schedule. That would give Sanders two weeks to prepare for a decent runway to show he can be the team’s quarterback of the future for the second half of the year.
So, let’s say that the Browns struggle as expected before their Week 9 bye and opt to make Sanders their quarterback at that point. Here’s how we think things could play out for Sanders with a nine-game audition for 2026 and beyond.
A tough debut on the road at MetLife Stadium against first-year head coach Aaron Glenn and dynamic quarterback Justin Fields. Glenn is a defensive head coach who will know how to devise a scheme to give Sanders fits in his first start. The Jets are also coming off a bye week and will have two weeks to prepare for the Browns. However, Stefanski has a 3-2 record coming off a bye week, and Cleveland’s defense, led by Jim Schwartz, will be a problem for Fields.
Result: Win, 1-0 record.
Sanders and the Browns face one of the best defenses in the league in the Ravens. Along with that, Baltimore’s offense, led by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, could have Cleveland playing catch-up when it has the ball. If the Browns can run the football, they can find a way to keep it close. But, more likely, Sanders looks like a bright-eyed rookie in his second NFL start.
Result: Loss, 1-1
Facing his mentor Tom Brady’s team for the first time, taking down a team led by veteran head coach Pete Carroll could be a tall order for Sanders. It’s also a second straight road game for the Browns. However, it’s against a Las Vegas team that passed on him several times in the 2025 NFL Draft despite needing quarterback depth in the offseason. In fact, the team was rumored to be interested in him, hosting Sanders for a pre-draft visit.
So, the game sets up as a little bit of revenge, and Sanders should be properly motivated. From a talent standpoint, the Browns match up relatively well against the Raiders, who are at the start of a rebuilding process, too. Las Vegas also comes off a short week after a Monday Night Football contest against the Dallas Cowboys.
Result: Win, 2-1
Week 13: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have lost the last four times they’ve played on the road in Cleveland, and we all know the struggles Brock Purdy has had in inclement weather. Sanders plays efficient football against a talented defense led by Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, not turning it over and relying on Cleveland’s defense to make enough plays in this one.
Result: Win, 3-1
Brock Purdy’s rise up the 49ers’ depth chart as a seventh-round rookie in 2022 might be the model Shedeur Sanders has to follow to become the Browns’ starting quarterback in 2025. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The two most-talked-about quarterbacks in this year’s draft, No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and Sanders, face off for the first time. While Ward is certainly the more talented prospect, Sanders arguably has the better team around him and authors his best performance of the season against a vulnerable Tennessee defense, throwing for over 300 yards for the first time in his pro career.
Result: Win, 4-1
Riding a three-game winning streak, Sanders and the Browns get a reality check on the road against Caleb Williams in the Windy City. Williams and the Chicago offense, led by head coach Ben Johnson, should be clicking at this point of the season. And Sanders is due for a bad game, playing on the road against another veteran defensive guru in Chicago defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
Result: Loss, 4-2
The Browns experience their first losing streak with Sanders leading them, falling to the more talented Bills at home in the season’s homestretch. Cleveland will have trouble matching touchdowns with Josh Allen and a dynamic offense, and Buffalo will force Sanders into some uncharacteristic turnovers that lead to the loss.
Result: Loss, 4-3
The Steelers were another team rumored as a potential landing spot for Sanders, who took a pre-draft visit to Pittsburgh and is a big fan of head coach Mike Tomlin. Sanders will face the oldest starting quarterback in the league in Aaron Rodgers, who turns 42 years old in December. Pittsburgh will pose difficulties with a talented defense, but I like Sanders to figure out a way to take his team to a win and get a bit of revenge against another team that passed on him in the draft.
Result: Win, 5-3
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers had multiple chances to select Shedeur Sanders in the NFL Draft. Instead, they signed Aaron Rodgers in June after selecting Ohio State quarterback Will Howard in the sixth round. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
The Browns are playing for pride heading into the final week of the season, while the Bengals should be in position to be playing for postseason seeding. And while these AFC North divisional games are usually competitive, the more motivated Bengals should run away with this game, even though they still have issues on defense.
Result: Loss, 5-4
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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