The Cleveland Browns may be heading down a path toward starting Shedeur Sanders at quarterback in 2026.
It probably wouldn't have been their plan initially. Sanders was a fifth-round pick. He opened the season as their QB4.
But he was starting at the end, and although there were struggles, there were a few positive flashes, too.
And the way everything has happened since the season ended, it feels like Sanders may wind up keeping the job by default.
The big swing news, or the thing that really emphasized this reality, was Dante Moore's decision on Wednesday. He chose to return to continuing playing in college at Oregon rather than head to the NFL Draft.
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That brought out a lot of analysis of the New York Jets' QB options, which in many ways are the Browns' QB options.
And, well, it's not pretty.
Assuming Fernando Mendoza goes No. 1 overall to the Raiders, the other possibilities as first-round QBs aren't day one starters.
The free agent pool isn't particularly appealing, and the Browns still owe too much money to Deshaun Watson to sign a guy like Malik Willis or even Justin Fields (if the Jets cut him).
Would they rather start Marcus Mariota than Sanders? That doesn't gain much.
And if the Browns don't feel good about their options, they might as well start Sanders. He'll draw eyeballs, sell tickets and if he doesn't develop, he'll lose enough games to try and get the Browns in Arch Manning range in the 2027 NFL Draft.
The Browns will have alternatives, but if none of them is particularly enticing, Sanders may remain the man into 2026.
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