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On the same day it was reported that there had been “talks” and “calls” about the availability of second-year Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders, it was also suggested that stories claiming Sanders had closed the gap in the competition for the team’s starting job were floated out there “to drum up interest” in his services.
During a recent chat with Michael Grant of Awful Announcing, Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer addressed the theory about the Sanders trade rumors.
Are Browns trying “to puff up Shedeur Sanders for a trade?”
“I think when (first-year Browns head coach) Todd Monken says he has two starting quarterbacks, he means it,” Cabot explained. “I don’t think this is lip service. I don’t think they’re just trying to puff up Shedeur Sanders for a trade opportunity.”
Cabot and others who cover the Browns have insisted since the team ended its mandatory minicamp on June 11 that Sanders remains on track to resume competing with veteran Deshaun Watson for the starting job when training-camp practices get underway in late July. While a Monday report said that Watson “is very much the favorite to end up starting in Week 1,” Cabot indicated that the battle is too close to call.
“I really did think it was going to be Deshaun Watson,” Cabot said about the eventual winner of the Browns’ competition. “That’s the way it looked at the end of voluntary minicamp in April. He looked like he had more command of the offense. But as OTAs and minicamp went along, Shedeur closed that gap. And now, heading into camp, it’s sort of a dead heat for that job. And I don’t know how it’s going to turn out. I really don’t.”
What Browns will need from Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson this season
As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Browns fifth among the betting favorites at +1050 odds to finish the upcoming season with the fewest wins in the league. That’s understandable, as the rebuilding Browns agreed to trade star pass-rusher Myles Garrett
to the Los Angeles Rams for edge-rusher Jared Verse and draft-pick compensation in early June.
However, Cabot seems to believe the Browns could surprise some members of the NFL community if Sanders or Watson can give the team average play from the sport’s most important position.
“If Deshaun or Shedeur goes out there and they’re top 16 or 17 in the NFL,” Cabot said, “then I think you can maybe get to eight wins. Maybe even one or two more than that. If quarterback play is above average, it’s going to come down to that because they have weapons now. They added KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, and if the second-year players step it up a notch, they’ll be even better…”
One would think that Sanders and Watson will both see plenty of playing time during Cleveland’s preseason opener at the Chicago Bears on Aug. 15. It’s currently anybody’s guess how Monken will handle the quarterback competition after that game wraps up.
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