Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders could be traded by the Cleveland Browns if he plays well, but not well enough to give the front office regrets for moving him.
Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders' potential release before the season starts was a popular narrative in the days following the 2025 NFL draft, especially since he was a fifth-round pick taken a day after the Cleveland Browns’ third-round pick, Dillon Gabriel.
The media cycle following Sanders’ arrival in Berea changed everything.
Sanders is fourth string on the Browns’ quarterback depth chart after OTAs and has been ticketed twice for speeding in Cleveland, but his media gravitas looks like it’ll keep him employed with the team.
For now.
The Sporting News’s Billy Heyen believes Sanders will stay with the Browns if he plays exceptionally or doesn’t play at all, but could be traded if he plays just well enough to have trade value to a QB-needy team.
“If Sanders looks too good, the Browns may not want to give up on him. But if he looks just good enough, maybe a team desperate for QB help gives Cleveland an offer that can't be refused,” Heyen wrote.
“The Browns have their own and Jacksonville's first-round picks in 2026, so that's a great spot to end up with a franchise quarterback, anyway. That could make Sanders expendable, if he plays well enough to intrigue another team.”
The New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and New York Jets represent the teams that make the most sense for Sanders.
New Orleans has a young QB room that may be full of place-holders. Tyler Shough is the presumed starter, but many Saints fans have their eyes on the 2026 QB class instead of seeing Shough as the franchise face.
The Giants have two veteran placeholders, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, who are most certainly not going to be on the team a year from now. Big Blue also has Jaxson Dart, who didn’t impress in OTAs and could force the front office to consider drafting another signal-caller next April.
The Jets may see Justin Fields as the next Sam Darnold – to be clear, the version he was on the Minnesota Vikings, not the version who wildly disappointed – but there’s hardly a guarantee with Gang Green on practically anything. Especially the QB position since Mark Sanchez brought them to consecutive AFC Championships.
Sanders would have a market. We’ll see if he plays just well enough to be on the trade block, but not too well to give Andrew Berry and the rest of the Browns’ front office seller’s remorse.
Category: General Sports
