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Shedeur Sanders Predicted To Leave The Cleveland Browns

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Dec 9, 2025 1:53 PM ET

It took the Browns until the second half of the season but they might have finally found a quarterback worth developing in 2026. The problem is: He may not stick around.

Through three starts, rookie QB Shedeur Sanders has seemingly been improving every week. This past Sunday in a loss to the Tennessee Titans he completed 55% of his passes for 364 yards and three touchdowns - an historic stat line for a Browns rookie, even if it did come against a terrible team.

But amid his strong performance, the Browns' coaching staff inexplicably took him off the field for a key two-point conversion attempt that failed and lost them the game. While not the worst play of the entire game, it did reinforce the notion that the Browns truly do not trust or even want Shedeur to be successful with them.

Football insider Todd McShay spoke on The Triple Option podcast this week and made it pretty clear that he doesn't see Shedeur playing in Cleveland in the long term. McShay believes that the Browns have been so derelict in their duties to develop or even prepare him for this that the team might trade him before next season (assuming the current regime is still in place).

“I don’t think it’s in Cleveland,” McShay said. “I say that because I’m not convinced that the coaching staff wanted to draft him. And you can kind of see that they blocked with everything they had, him playing, or even being, feeling like he was a player that they were developing. I never got that sense that they were putting the effort in this season, even with Shedeur as a backup, to get him prepared for the moment that arose with the injury to Dillon Gabriel.

“And so, we’ll see how that goes the rest of the season. But, honestly, my guess is, depending on what – you know, is it the same general manager, Andrew Berry? Is it the same head coach, Kevin Stefanski, next year? If it is, I think that he’s playing now to get the attention of the other 31 organizations to try to get an opportunity, whether that’s – it would most likely have to be in a trade, or else he’s going to have to ride out the remaining three years in his rookie deal.”

Nov 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) drops back to make a pass during the first half against the San Francisco 49ers at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

The Future for Shedeur

McShay acknowledged that there is still a lot of development to be done and maturing for Shedeur Sanders to do before he can be a regular starting quarterback in the NFL. But McShay believes that if Caleb Williams can overcome his early struggles in the right coaching situation, Shedeur can too.

“I think he can,” said McShay. “I think he has a lot of maturing to do. I really do. I think both as an individual, and as a quarterback and learning to play within the scheme. I think there’s a lot of drifting and sliding out of the pocket. I think there’s this innate, because of the way he played at Colorado and throughout his college career? There’s this, like, kind of hero brand of quarterback that he likes to play where every play has to be a home run, and he’s got to run around and do all those things.

“I think, I always called him, coming out? He had the bad tendencies that Caleb Williams had that he developed at USC, but he doesn’t have the arm or the mobility that Caleb possessed to get out of that trouble. And we’ve seen Caleb make big strides with Ben Johnson, but he’s still not there yet. And so, Shedeur would have to make those same strides, and doesn’t have the athleticism and the arm strength. He has a good arm, but Caleb has a special arm. So, I think that, to me, is kind of the difference.”

Does Shedeur have a future in Cleveland?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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