“I'm calling it a wrap”: Colin Cowherd gives his verdict on Browns QB race after Shedeur Sanders' OTAs performance

Considering his polarizing nature, Shedeur Sanders starting for the Cleveland Browns would be a sight for football fans. Deion Sanders' son arrived in Cleveland as a fifth-round pick, joining a crowded quarterback room consisting of another rookie, Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, veteran Joe Flacco, and the injured Deshaun Watson.

NFL analyst Colin Cowherd has given his verdict on the Browns' quarterback race. Cowherd is betting on Sanders to be the starter.

"Let's put the numbers up for the television audience," Cowherd said on Thursday's episode of "The Herd." "It appears in the four quarterback derby, despite the fact that Shedeur Sanders had the fewest attempts, he was the most efficient and most productive with the fewest reps… I've seen enough. I'm calling it a wrap.

"Shedeur should be starting. We are calling him as the projected winner in a race that is not as close as the fake news projected. You can keep selling me on Pickett, you can keep selling me on Gabriel… Now Flacco, I buy Flacco… I think he's going to win the starting job initially. I really like Flacco, but I'm calling it. I'm calling it for Shedeur," Cowherd added.

Cowherd's latest stance towards the former Colorado QB is a 180-degree shift from some of his previous verdicts. Before the 2025 NFL Draft, the analyst had said,

"If you're Cleveland, if you draft him, he is, at best, the third-best quarterback in that division. He'll never be as good as [Joe] Burrow. He's not that kind of prospect, and he's not Lamar Jackson."

After the Browns drafted Shedeur Sanders, Cowherd once again weighed in on Coach Prime's son, saying that the 23-year-old is a celebrity quarterback and no team wants to draft one.

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Joe Flacco on mentoring Shedeur Sanders & other Browns QBs

Joe Flacco, 39, is in his 18th NFL season. He was asked at OTAs whether he plans to mentor Cleveland’s rookie signal-callers.

"It's a good question to bait somebody. If I say I don’t want to be a mentor, I look bad. If I say I do, I look like an idiot that doesn’t care about playing football."

Flacco made it clear he’s not here to play babysitter.

“I tend to try to be honest. And I've said, I'm not a mentor. I play football. In the quarterback room, there's been already a ton of times where there's learning experiences, and I have a lot of experience and I can talk on things. And hopefully they listen,” added Flacco.