Shedeur Sanders ignites Cleveland Browns quarterback talk again

NEW ORLEANS – Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders made the most important start of his NFL career on Sunday and responded with his most impressive performance.

The Browns lost to the New Orleans Saints 23-22 in overtime and slipped to 5-4, but Sanders’ performance — completing 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns — may have helped answer a lingering question for beleaguered Browns fans: Is Sanders part of a Browns renaissance, or part of the franchise’s mediocre past?

This debate has raged since last spring, when Cleveland selected Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, turning the University of Colorado into a lightning rod for controversy and debate.

Was he the victim of an NFL front office plot to punish a young black man for being too arrogant?

Was he largely a product of the hype machine manufactured by his Hall of Fame father, Deion Sanders, who coached him through college?

When first-year Cleveland head coach Todd Monken chose Deshaun Watson over Sanders to be the Browns’ starting quarterback this season, we thought we had a partial answer — and a good one. With the more experienced Watson, Cleveland got off to a 5-2 start and won back-to-back games thanks to his return prowess.

So when Watson suffered a concussion against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week and signs pointed to Sanders being the starter Sunday on the road against the Saints, we figured this would be the first real test for his replacement.

Sanders started the final seven games of last season with mixed results: a 3-4 record, seven touchdown passes, 10 interceptions and a 56.6 percent completion percentage. The season was already lost; the stakes only mattered to Sanders and his brand.

The stakes in Sunday’s game were exponentially higher. Monken’s team is in the midst of an AFC North title race, facing the Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. Cleveland needed to win a game against a lesser opponent on paper, which required Sanders to be the clutch player he often was in college.

Even though the Browns lost on Sunday, it wasn’t because of Sanders. In fact, he almost won them the game.

Sanders gave Cleveland a 13-9 lead in the fourth quarter on a 64-yard touchdown pass to KC Concepcion Jr. After New Orleans got back in front with less than a minute left in regulation, the 24-year-old quarterback led the Browns on a game-tying drive that ended with a field goal and included a clutch third-down pass thrown under fierce pressure.

The Saints (3-5) scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, and Sanders put Cleveland in position to tie them by leading a brilliant eight-play, 67-yard drive capped by a 39-yard touchdown run by Harold Fannin.

Instead, the Browns attempted a 2-point conversion for the win — but Sanders couldn’t find an open receiver, and a holding penalty would have negated a successful attempt anyway.

“I’m really, really proud of him and he’s really matured,” Monken said. “I don’t mean that in a negative way, that he was immature. That’s unfair. That’s not what I mean. What I mean is that in terms of his work ethic – in terms of his diligence, in terms of what he will say to the coaching staff and ask questions, his comments – those are all the right steps to move forward as a young player, especially at the quarterback position.

“He gave us a chance at the end. He really made some plays. He made some plays with his legs to extend plays and get us first downs.”

Invariably, the quarterback chatter will start – and it probably already has. Sanders supporters will use Sunday’s performance as evidence that he should be named the starter, regardless of Watson’s concussion status.

Monken didn’t want to play that game when asked after Sunday’s loss whether Sanders had made a compelling argument to begin with.

“I’m not even…” an exasperated Monken began. “How long has it been? Thirty minutes since the end of the game. I’m not stepping into the quarterback role.”

But Monken acknowledged that he would return to Cleveland with a level of confidence in Sanders that he may have lacked when the team left for New Orleans the day before.

“I mean, the way he improved in the first six months that I was with him gave me confidence in him, but at the end of the day, you have to go play,” Monken said. “You have to go out on the field and you have to execute. And guys have to play well around him, right? It’s not one man’s job. We have a coach, we have a plan. But ultimately, in the end, he came through, and we needed him to succeed with big plays and big throws.

“I’m happy for him, because every player wants to have the opportunity to play and show their abilities. So, in part, I’m proud of him.”

Sanders wouldn’t get caught up in these speculations either. When asked point blank if he had earned the right to do it again, he insisted it wasn’t his decision.

“I control what I control,” he said.

Sanders then discussed what he learned sitting behind Watson, watching the game and growing in different areas.

“If I play, then yes, I grow in that area. If I don’t play, then I grow in that (other) area,” Sanders said. “So in every area you’re progressing, so you can never really look at the situation as negative. … Even learning from Deshaun, how he keeps the same mentality throughout the game, how he doesn’t really get frustrated and stays the same.”

There is also the maturity factor mentioned by Monken. Earlier in the week, Sanders made statements – a smiling gesture, actually – that were interpreted as disrespectful to the Saints defense. He began his postgame remarks Sunday by apologizing.

Sanders grows and matures.

“I apologize if my comments were taken out of context,” he said. “I apologize for being taken out of context, but that’s how the media works sometimes. But it’s also my fault for not being very clear. And I understand that.”

The Steelers and Bengals are both 6-2. Cleveland slipped to 5-4 but still has two games remaining against Cincinnati. A divisional crown remains within his reach.

But to get there, the Browns offense needs a spark.

On Sunday, they lost to a Saints team that had lost four of its last five games. Entering the game, Cleveland was averaging 17.4 points per game, fourth lowest in the NFL. The Browns’ defense has allowed the team to remain competitive as the franchise fights for a level of relevance it has lacked for decades.

Cleveland has made just two playoff appearances in the last 23 years, most recently a 2023 first-round loss to the Houston Texans after going 11-6 in the regular season. The Browns’ only playoff victory since 1995 came in 2020. The last time Cleveland had consistent success was in the late 1980s, when the Browns reached three AFC Championship Games in four seasons.

That history will weigh on which quarterback the Browns start this season, but the coaching staff now knows they can count on Sanders down the stretch and in the clutch. The franchise must now determine if he is part of its future.

The jury is still out, but if Sanders’ performance in Sunday’s overtime loss is any indication, expect a favorable verdict.