The Cleveland Browns have officially made the switch to Dillon Gabriel, moving fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders into the QB2 spot by default. Joe Flacco was dealt to Cincinnati. Before that, Kenny Pickett was sent to Las Vegas. The Browns' four-QB experiment did not last long. And yet, Deshaun Watson's eventual return looms, and it's unclear just how settled the QB room actually is.
On the surface, Sanders is a perfectly intriguing backup. Most fifth-round picks don't start in year one. But Sanders is different. He's the most scrutinized fifth-round pick... ever? Cleveland sort of dug its own grave here. It was an objectively smart pick value-wise, but the amount of attention and criticism stemming from the Sanders pick is disproportionate to how Sanders is viewed in the organization as, you know, a fifth-round pick.
It seems like Gabriel has a pretty long runway with the starting job. He put together a solid debut and will look to continue that success moving forward. If Gabriel keeps it up, one has to wonder if Cleveland has one more QB trade in the chamber before the November deadline. Sanders is a distraction. Perhaps he's worth it, but if the goal is to develop Gabriel as your franchise quarterback, keeping a younger, more popular (and as some think, more talented) option behind him on the depth chart is going to create unnecessary noise.
Here are a few potential landing spots for Sanders, should Cleveland decide to move on and hand the team fully over to Gabriel.
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are perfectly adequate. That's not a terrible team. Tet McMillan has made a strong first impression and looks the part of a franchise-defining wideout. The defense is more competitive than one might expect. Tampa is going to run away with the NFC South, but there's still a world in which Carolina finishes second in the division.
That said, we are in year three of the Bryce Young experience and the results aren't much better. He is no longer a walking disaster, to his credit, but Young remains deeply flawed. It's hard not to watch him and think about when the Panthers will need to admit defeat and move on. He's not the franchise quarterback Carolina was expecting at No. 1 overall.
Young has battled through adversity and made gains under less than ideal circumstances, but he's still too small and too inconsistent. Carolina probably won't view Sanders as the long-term solution, but a brief trial run before the 2026 NFL Draft couldn't hurt. At worst, Sanders is an intriguing backup to incorporate into their future plans. The spotlight is considerably dimmer in Charlotte than it is in Cleveland, so perhaps Sanders can escape the magnifying glass he's under with the Browns. It would benefit all parties involved, and give Sanders a chance to take over for Young if the Panthers' season goes south.
New Orleans Saints
Frankly, Spencer Rattler looks pretty damn good. The New Orleans Saints began the season with even less quarterback clarity than Cleveland, but Rattler won the starting job outright in camp and has lived up to his billing in the regular season, even as New Orleans tumbles in the standings. There is no way to watch the Saints right now and believe Tyler Shough would give them a better chance to win. The team is built to lose, but at least Rattler is helping the Saints lose respectably.
That said, Sanders was straight up a better prospect than Shough. The Saints aren't going to admit to a sunk cost this quickly, but let's be serious. The Saints are going to select a quarterback near the top of the 2026 draft; this is only a stopgap measure regardless. But, as things stand, there is far more long-term equity with Sanders, whose incredible efficiency at Colorado towers above the shaky seven-year collegiate résumé Shough put together across various programs.
If the Saints decide at any point to move on from Rattler, that offense feels well-suited to an effective game manager like Sanders. He needs to speed up is release and stretch the field more effectively than he did in preseason, but Sanders tends to limit his mistakes. The Saints' offense isn't explosive, but it does tend to avoid massive, self-inflicted wounds. Kellen Moore is taking the right lessons from his brief stint in Philadelphia.
There is at least a path to regular snaps in New Orleans, a team where Sanders is better set up for success than he'll ever be in Cleveland.
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are the saddest team in the NFL right now. Maybe not the worst team, but definitely the saddest. Not long ago, we all thought of the Dolphins as an offensive juggernaut — the blueprint every offense in the NFL was attempting to copy, with mixed results. But now, the Mike McDaniel era is slowly crawling toward the finish line. Tua Tagovailoa's shortcomings have been fully exposed. Tyreek Hill is out for the season — and effectively done with his Dolphins tenure. The wheels have come off, point blank.
Tagovailoa is paid too much to sit on the bench, but sooner than later, Miami will need to reset expectations and start thinking about the future. While there is some excitement about Quinn Ewers after an intriguing preseason, just ask Texas fans how fervently you should trust him. Zach Wilson is a fun idea, but after that Jets tenure, it's hard to trust him in any context.
Sanders can at least benefit from McDaniel's slick offensive scheming for however long they both last in South Beach. McDaniel's offense is built to generate quick, easy advantages for its playmakers. Sanders can hold the football too long, but McDaniel should make it easier to dial up quick passes. Plus, after such a fruitful partnership with Travis Hunter at Colorado, there's no doubt Sanders would benefit from having Jaylen Waddle to lob it to downfield.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are trudging through their first season under Pete Carroll, stuck between win-now expectations and a team clearly not built to, you know, win now. There was a lot of faith put into the Geno Smith trade, which felt like a steal in the moment, but Smith is struggling behind a patchwork offensive line. It doesn't help that Brock Bowers is hurt and the wideout room is in shambles.
Smith has nine interceptions through five weeks, which is unsustainable. At some point, the Raiders need to punt on this season and start thinking about the future. Smith's contract won't make it easy to move on, but Kenny Pickett isn't the answer either. As fate would have it, minority owner and shadow GM Tom Brady has a longstanding relationship with Sanders and his family. It did not leave Las Vegas to select him on draft night, but it could make him an appealing emergency trade option.
Sanders won't have it any easier than Smith behind that Vegas O-line, but he put up big numbers behind terrible pass protection at Colorado, and that was despite his aforementioned issues with timing. The NFL is a different beast, of course, but Sanders has the talent and IQ to potentially overcome less than stellar circumstances and deliver fewer than 1.8 interceptions per week, which is a low bar.
New York Jets
The New York Jets fell to 0-6 with an ugly loss in London on Sunday morning. Justin Fields threw for 45 yards and took nine sacks for -55 yards, which means the Jets' passing attack generated -10 yards in total. There are other issues beyond Fields — in fact, Fields is very much a product of those other issues — but the Jets need to switch things up at quarterback. That much is clear.
Tyrod Taylor is an experienced veteran with plenty of starting experience, but the Jets probably want to keep losing games at this point. Switching to Taylor is better than nothing, as it's important to develop good habits, even in a losing situation. But if the Jets can bring in a young quarterback for trial by fire, that is the ideal solution. Why not see what Sanders can do with a long runway?
It's not like the Jets are without quality playmakers. Garrett Wilson is one of the best wideouts in the NFL. Breece Hall is a genuine magician working out of the backfield. New York just needs a quarterback who's willing to take a few risks and air it out. Sanders will undoubtedly experience his share of struggles in that Jets offense, but he would have a hard time not delivering better results.
If Sanders wants an immediate opportunity and a chance to elevate his profile in a major market, he couldn't ask for more than an opportunity to lead the New York Jets. It's a cursed job, but just imagine if Sanders is the one to break the curse.