Browns OC shares how Shedeur Sanders has performed in springtime workouts

A Wednesday report suggested that "a path" exists for rookie Shedeur Sanders to emerge as the Cleveland Browns' Week 1 starting quarterback over fellow first-year pro Dillon Gabriel, veteran Joe Flacco and 2022 first-round draft choice Kenny Pickett.

Later in the day, Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees touched upon how Sanders has performed since Cleveland grabbed the polarizing prospect in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

"Look, he’s worked his tail off," Rees said about Sanders, as shared by Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "He’s really put in a lot of work, as all those guys are, but you could tell on the mental side of the game and learning the system and calling it and having that rhythm to it, he’s put a lot of work and time and effort into that. And then when you do that, the game starts to slow down, and you can focus on finding completions. And he’s done a nice job of that as camp’s progressed."

The fact that Sanders allegedly came off as "so entitled" regarding how he reportedly handled the predraft process caused some to wonder how he'd deal with being Cleveland's QB4 during the voluntary portion of the offseason program. On Wednesday, national NFL reporter Kimberley A. Martin of ESPN (h/t Bleacher Report) revealed that she learned from people within the Browns that Sanders has been "soaking up everything like a sponge" this spring. 

As of Thursday morning, FanDuel Sportsbook had Sanders as a +310 betting underdog to win the starting job this summer. To compare, Flacco topped the list as a +116 favorite. 

On the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Cabot and Dan Labbe of the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted that Sanders "remains firmly fourth in the quarterback pecking order behind" Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel. That said, Rees hinted the four-way quarterback competition is more open than some thought. 

"You can see ‘em all winning the job, I think, right? And so in terms of the competition, we’re so early in the process," Rees added. "We’re so early in evaluating it. But yeah, I think we have a good group of guys that will continue to push one another, and by the time September rolls around, we’ll be ready to go."

Also on Wednesday, multiple ESPN personalities revived an old rumor linking the Browns with Atlanta Falcons veteran Kirk Cousins. One wonders if Sanders can show enough before Cleveland's three-day mandatory minicamp wraps up on June 12 to convince the club it doesn't need to make a quarterback-related transaction ahead of training camp.