Seahawks' Sam Darnold offers advice for Browns' Shedeur Sanders ahead of QB competition

Beginning with the start of rookie minicamp on Friday, 2025 fifth-round draft pick Shedeur Sanders will officially enter a competition for the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback job. 

During a recent conversation with Scott Thompson of Fox News Digital, Seattle Seahawks starter Sam Darnold offered some advice for Sanders, as he prepares to compete with 2025 third-round choice Dillon Gabriel, 2022 first-round selection Kenny Pickett and veteran Joe Flacco.

"I think the biggest thing is having respect," Darnold explained. "Having respect for the teammates that you’re competing with. ...I think whether it’s Shedeur or anyone else, I think just having respect for those guys in the quarterbacks room and helping everybody get better. That’s the biggest thing at this point in the season, helping everybody get better. When you do that, you get better yourself, more than you even know."

Darnold knows all about experiencing highs and lows as an NFL QB1. The New York Jets made him the third overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, but ultimately discarded him after three seasons. Following a failed stint with the Carolina Panthers, Darnold spent most of the 2023 campaign as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers. Most recently, he helped the 2024 Minnesota Vikings go 14-3 en route to receiving a three-year, $100.5M contract from Seattle in March. 

History shows that Sanders likely will begin the upcoming season as a backup, if only because of when he was drafted. While with Carolina in the summer of 2022, Darnold lost a QB battle to then-teammate Baker Mayfield. Thus, Sanders could learn something from Darnold if the Browns go with Flacco or Pickett for the 2025 regular-season opener.

"When Bake got the nod for Week 1, I was like, 'I’m here for you. Anything you need, if you want me to watch tape of certain third-down looks or any blitz packages the defense might have, I’m here for you,'" Darnold added. "It’s that kind of way in the quarterbacks room, and there’s nothing that simulates that in the real world."

Sanders has plenty of motivation to prove doubters wrong, considering all that's been said about him since the second half of April. How he handles himself as Cleveland's QB3 or QB4 when training camp practices get underway could ultimately determine whether he gets an opportunity to face a live defense in a meaningful game as a rookie.