Will Browns cut Shedeur Sanders? Exploring Coach Prime’s son’s future in Cleveland with tough QB battle ahead

Shedeur Sanders was rumored to be an option for the Cleveland Browns with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL draft. While he did eventually land with the franchise, it was in the fifth round. Some predicted that he could slide in the draft, but few expected it to be as far as it ended up being.

Complicating the situation even more is that the Browns also selected another quarterback prospect Dillon Gabriel earlier than they picked Sanders. This theoretically means that they had Gabriel ranked higher on their draft boards and believe in his future more.

The Browns have been extremely active with their quarterback position during the offseason, also adding Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett to create a crowded depth chart. They have been seeking answers with Deshaun Watson potentially out for the entire 2025 season due to injury.

It's unlikely that all of them will survive training camp, as one or more could be cut at some point during the offseason. Shedeur Sanders is a candidate, but it's rare for NFL teams to cut a fifth-round draft pick before the start of their rookie season.

Sanders is also in an extremely rare situation where most around the league expect him to be better than Gabriel, despite their draft positions. The fact that Gabriel was drafted earlier also suggests that he isn't going to be cut from their roster, but it will be interesting to see which one of them is higher on the depth chart.

With Sanders and Gabriel unlikely to be cut, Pickett or Flacco might end up missing out on the final roster. Considering their contract situations, Pickett makes the most financial sense to be cut.

Shedeur Sanders

Releasing him after June 1 would result in no dead cap money at all, so they can essentially do so without any negative salary cap implications. This means that Sanders is more likely to be on their final roster for the upcoming 2025 NFL season than Pickett.