‘Are you starting?’ – Shedeur Sanders issues blunt response on whether he’ll be Browns first-string QB over Joe Flacco ...Middle East

The Cleveland Browns are really mounting the tension over the battle to be the starting quarterback going into Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. 

However, they are certainly not short of options, with the franchise seeking to better their woeful 3-14 campaign, their worst since the 2017 NFL season when they went 0-16. 

With a stacked quarterback room, after having brought back 18-year veteran Joe Flacco, the Browns also acquired Kenny Pickett in a trade with the reigning Super Bowl champions, Philadelphia Eagles. 

That deal saw Pickett exchanged for Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth round draft pick. 

Furthermore, they still have Deshaun Watson on their payroll on a monstrous five-year, $230 million deal, though he will likely be on the sidelines for much of, if not the entirety, of the 2025 season after having suffered a right Achilles tendon injury. 

The Browns have also not shied away from selecting quarterbacks with their first round NFL Draft selections over the years, such as Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield.

This year was no different, except this time, they went ahead and drafted two QBs. 

Having opted to take former Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel with their third-round pick, this turned heads around the league, with projected first-round prospect Shedeur Sanders still on the board. 

Despite having drafted Gabriel, the Browns once again sought to bolster their QB options in the draft by eventually taking Sanders, son of Hall of Fame defensive back Deion Sanders, with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round after his monumental draft slide.

Now, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has the mammoth task on his hands when deciding who he will name as the team’s starting quarterback going into week one. 

Sanders appears to have firmly put his name in contention to be that number one option.

In fact, it appears more and more likely by the day that the competition for the starting job is between Sanders and the veteran Flacco.  

However, when asked about whether he will have the starting job by some kids who were in attendance at mini camp, Sanders downplayed the situation to a mere four-word response.

“We got preseason first”, he bluntly replied

Whilst there have been murmurs around the league that Flacco has been brought in to, in essence, be a mentor to the younger QBs on the Browns roster, the 40-year-old veteran has stood pat on leading by example on the field. 

“It’s not really about that. It’s just not the main focus,” Flacco said in his media availability. 

“I see myself as a guy that can play in this league. So, if your main focus was just like, hey, but I’m going to get you ready, you’re just not taking care of business. The best way to be a mentor, honestly, is to show people how you go to work and, like I said, hope that they pick up on that stuff, but not necessarily force them to pick up on the things that you do.” 

Flacco was initially with the Browns back in 2023, where he was the recipient of the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award after having thrown for 13 touchdowns, and 1,616 yards in just five outings. 

As a result, he led Cleveland to the postseason for the first time since 2020, though they would fall at the first hurdle to a then-rookie QB CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans. 

Meanwhile, Sanders played 24 games across two seasons for the Colorado Buffaloes, in which he had 64 total touchdowns, and threw for 7,364 total yards.  

In his senior year the son of Coach Prime, who almost lost his left foot last year, led Colorado to a joint Big 12 record of 7-2, and finished the year having amassed a career-high 74 percent pass completion percentage. 

However, he did also throw 10 interceptions in 13 outings, significantly more than the three he threw all of the 2023 season. 

When acknowledging the Flacco-Sanders battle, Stefanski highlighted how the two have formed a bond, with Sanders’ personality particularly shining through. 

“Having him (Sanders) in the meeting room, he brings a great personality in there,” Stefanski said last week.

“To see those two bounce ideas off each other is hilarious. Joe will say a couple of things, and I’ll be like, ‘Joe, Shedeur wasn’t born. He wasn’t born then.’

“He’s got great energy, great kid, working his tail off, and he’s playing really well too.”

Whilst the battle for the starting QB spot remains very much open, the Browns at least have peace of mind on the defensive side of the ball now that 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett has committed his future to the team. 

The six-time Pro Bowler initially requested a trade out of the struggling organisation in search of a chance to challenge for the Super Bowl, having spent his entire eight-year career donning the brown and orange jersey.  

But money talks and the Browns made an offer Garrett simply could not refuse. 

Signing the 29-year-old to a four-year, $160 million contract extension, with $123.5 million guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $40 million, Garrett is now one of the highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the league. 

With Garrett desperate to compete for a Super Bowl and not be stuck in a rebuild, he will no doubt be looking at the Browns QB room very closely. 

Both rookie QBs, though, appear to have impressed the defensive star in the early stages of minicamp.

“I only really saw Dillon today as far as getting reps in team,” Garrett said last week.

“He looks composed. He’s running the offense pretty well. His eyes got pretty big when I got free and I was face up on him.

“But all of them look pretty calm, just going through their checks, going through their calls, making the plays they need to make, not doing too much right now, and they’ll have time to continue to display their talents.

“It’s just one day at a time. Continue to earn the trust of your coaches and your teammates, and I think they’ll be able to open up the game.”

With Gabriel having made the most of his opportunity to get some throwing reps under his belt during minicamp, he may yet see his stock to be the starting QB on week 1 surge. 

But for now, at least, all eyes are firmly fixated on Flacco and Sanders to be the last two standing when battling for that coveted starting spot.  

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