Browns' Shedeur Sanders gets more hopeful news amid competition with Deshaun Watson

An alleged "paradigm shift" occurred on Wednesday when 2025 rookie Shedeur Sanders ran the Cleveland Browns' first-team offense over veteran Deshaun Watson "in virtually every competitive drill" in front of media members.

During a Thursday appearance on Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan, Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggested that Sanders is giving first-year Browns head coach Todd Monken something to think about this spring. 

Shedeur Sanders has "surprised" Browns coaches in recent springtime workouts? 

"I think Shedeur has come on so strong in the last few weeks," Cabot said, "that it's making them think, 'Maybe we should see what he can do in training camp before we decide that perhaps Deshaun Watson might be QB1 on the depth chart.' I think [Sanders has] just worked so hard and done such a nice job and maybe even surprised them in some ways." 

Some assumed earlier this week that one reason Cleveland traded defensive superstar Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams is that those running the Browns don't view Sanders as a possible "long-term solution" or an "ultimate answer" for the club's long-time quarterback woes. The Browns allegedly are prepared to part ways with Watson after the upcoming season wraps up, so it's logical to think that Monken and Co. hope Sanders continues to impress from next week's mandatory minicamp through the summer. 

Shedeur Sanders on track to extend quarterback competition? 

"He made it clear that even if he had his own QB depth chart set in his mind by the end of minicamp next week, he wasn't necessarily going to announce it," Cabot added about Monken's handling of Cleveland's quarterback situation. "I think they were still working through a strategy about that. ... I don't know if Todd is going to be ready to say, 'Hey, our QB depth chart is such and such.' I actually think now he's backing off of that and hedging on that, and I don't know if they're going to do that or not."

If nothing else, it sounds like the door is still open for Sanders to possibly emerge as Cleveland's QB1 this summer. That's a significant change from when it felt like it was a matter of when and not if Watson would begin preparing to start the Browns' Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.