Shedeur Sanders handed warning over second-year leap as Browns lay out QB succession plan

Shedeur Sanders may get another opportunity to impress at quarterback next season.

The Cleveland Browns are continue to be evaluate all of their options going into the 2026 NFL season.

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With the anticipated return of $230 million Deshaun Watson after sitting out the 2025 campaign as he recovered from a torn Achilles injury, all signs up to now point to it being a two-way battle between the veteran and Sanders for the starting role.

However, former Oregon star Dillon Gabriel can’t be discounted either with Browns general manager Andrew Berry very much advocating for the ‘forgotten’ signal caller.

Sanders, who suffered an all-time draft slide in 2025, was given a seven-game opportunity to show what he could do in the NFL after fellow rookie Gabriel suffered a concussion in the Browns’ Week 11 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.

He made the most of it, by becoming the first Browns QB in over 30 years to win their first start, and finished the season with over 1,500 scrimmage yards and 11 total touchdowns ascCleveland went 3-4 with him under center.

Despite also throwing for seven interceptions, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders also earned a Pro Bowl replacement nod, much to the dismay of many from around the league.

However, with the Browns having started 11 different quarterbacks since the 2020 season, Sanders has been warned that should he not show a considerable leap in his development then he could be on the chopping block.

“I think even if Watson wins the job, and I don’t know how it’s going to go, I think Sanders will get enough games, added to last year’s seven starts and a minimum of seven this year, they’ll be able to make an evaluation,” ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi said on Monday.

Grossi was asked the follow-up question of whether Sanders would have to show a Drake Maye-like progression to which he added: “Yep and the record has to be such that getting one of those quarterbacks is going to be difficult.

“You’d have to win eight, nine games, maybe even go to the playoffs.”

In Maye’s rookie season with the New England Patriots, the former UNC QB went 3-9 in his 12 starts under center as he completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,276 passing yards and 15 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

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However, in his second season – this time with Patriots icon Mike Vrabel at the helm as head coach – Maye completed a whopping 72 percent of his passes for 4,394 passing yards and 31 touchdowns to just eight interceptions.

This saw him firmly in the conversation for the 2025 NFL MVP award, though he finished as runner-up to 38-year-old Matthew Stafford, going on to lead the Patriots into Super Bowl LX, albeit ending in defeat.

Sanders’ successor revealed

Whoever earns the Browns starting role under new head coach Todd Monken who has declared an ‘open competition’ for the coveted QB1 role will have to take their chance because the next steps already appear in place.

According to Grossi, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is very much interested in Texas Longhorns and NIL star athlete Arch Manning, who is expected to declare for the NFL Draft in 2027.

When asked whether he thought that Haslam was still looking ahead to 2027 and Manning in particular, Grossi said: “Absolutely, yep,” Grossi responded. “I mean, he’s gotta have a good year, Arch.”

Cleveland already proposed a rule change to the NFL that would see them be able to package draft picks in trades with a five-year window, as opposed to the current window being limited to three years.

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Some felt that the reason for proposing such rule-change had something to do with putting together a package, perhaps to try and land the rights to select Manning next year.

“The Browns say, off the record, ‘this has nothing to do with any trade proposal the Browns are planning,'” Grossi said.

“But how can we not [speculate] they’re lining up for Arch Manning?”

The 21-year-old son of Archie Manning – the older brother of Hall of Fame QBs Peyton and Eli – will enter his fourth season for the Longhorns in 2026.

In 25 games under center at Texas, he has completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 4,132 passing yards and 35 touchdowns to just nine interceptions.

Entering his junior year, Manning, who has also rushed for an additional 514 yards and 14 scores on the ground, has emerged as the leading – and very early – favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Should he live up to the hype that has already been placed on his shoulders, he will enter the 2027 NFL Draft as one of the top QBs in his class.

In turn that could see the Browns – and any number of teams – be aggressive in their pursuit to land him, especially if their own season goes awry once again.

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