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Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is currently in quarterback purgatory with the Cleveland Browns. But a top NFL quarterback agent believes there’s still hope for his career as a starter.
Sanders’ teammate and fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been named the Browns’ starting quarterback, with the team trading veteran Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday.
Sanders, now the team’s second-stringer behind Gabriel, prompted mixed media attention last week when he was asked about Gabriel being named the starter. Sanders responded by silently mouthing words without speaking, like a mime.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders, front, walks off the field after the NFL football team’s rookie minicamp in Berea, Ohio, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Agent Leigh Steinberg, who has represented a record eight No. 1 overall draft picks, suggested he believes Sanders’ response was a product of competitive frustration.
“I thought he was fine with the answer,” Steinberg told Fox News Digital. “It’s unrealistic to expect players to be thrilled and delighted with a backup situation.”
Still, Steinberg would have hoped Sanders would give a more substantial answer if the rookie was his client.
“I think realistically the answer would be in two parts. Number one, ‘Obviously, I’m anxious to be a starter in this league, and I think that’s my destiny, but for the meantime, I’ll do anything I can to support Dillon Gabriel.’ I think that’s the answer,” Steinberg said.
Gabriel passed for 190 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start for the Browns on Sunday, but the team lost to the Minnesota Vikings 21-17. Gabriel earned the initial second-string spot for Cleveland after being selected with the team’s third-round pick in this year’s draft.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) looks to pass the ball against the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter of an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 5, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Sanders, despite being regarded as a superior prospect than Gabriel coming out of college, wasn’t selected until the fifth round, when the Browns chose him with the 144th pick. Sanders was a projected contender for the No. 1 overall pick going into the draft, but fell all the way to the fifth round in one of the most surprising and unprecedented draft slides in NFL history.
And now Sanders is relegated to a backup role behind another rookie in Cleveland, as Gabriel could prove to be the Browns’ long-term starter, leaving Sanders without a clear path to become a starter himself. But Steinberg, as an agent, believes it’s “almost certain” that Sanders will start at quarterback at some point this year.
Steinberg also believes sitting will still be beneficial to Sanders’ stock as a quarterback in the long term.
“If Dillon Gabriel ends up being the quarterback of the future, someone else will give Shedeur Sanders a chance,” Steinberg said.
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Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Huntington Bank Field on Sept. 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
“Use the time as a backup to learn as much as [you can]. To not start the first year is what jump started the careers of Jordon Love, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers–all of these players sat for a year.”
Steinberg said the amount of time that Sanders should patiently wait as a backup is “after a couple of years,” before pursuing a new team.
“At this point, all you know as the agent for the backup is that someone else is getting their chance, and we’ll see and make decisions later, depending on what that situation is later,” Steinberg said.
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