Following the trade of Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, the expectation was that the Cleveland Browns would make Shedeur Sanders the backup to Dillon Gabriel.
Sanders has been in the QB3 spot all season long, so naturally it was believed he would be bumped up a spot with Flacco out of the way.
However, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was not ready to confirm Sanders as the QB2 earlier in the week and instead left the door open for veteran and career backup, Bailey Zappe, to get the nod.
But, on Friday, Stefanski finally confirmed Sanders as QB2.
"Kevin Stefanski says Shedeur Sanders will be the backup QB for Cleveland's game against the Steelers," The Athletic's Dianna Russini said. "Dillon Gabriel will start."
This is most definitely the right move for the Browns.
Keeping Sanders in the emergency third quarterback role would have made it more difficult for him to see the field if there was an injury to Gabriel that forced his exit from a contest, as he would need whoever was placed into the QB2 spot ahead of him to get hurt, also, in order to find his way onto the field.
Furthermore, this decision avoids the ridiculous amount of controversy that would have been birthed had Sanders not been promoted.
The fact of the matter is, the Browns need to get a look at Sanders if Gabriel does not pan out or gets hurt. Cleveland needs to do as much assessing as possible in order to determine if it should draft a quarterback with a high pick in 2026.
Now, the Browns are one step closer to getting a long-awaited look at Sanders, but the team surely hopes that never happens and instead Gabriel clearly takes the bull by the horns and cements himself as the long-term answer in Cleveland.
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