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Cleveland Browns officially name Shedeur Sanders backup QB to Dillon Gabriel after Joe Flacco trade

Danby: Daniel Hager10/10/25DanielHagerOn3

Following this week’s trade of Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, Shedeur Sanders will officially backup Dillon Gabriel this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It will mark his first career game as QB2 in the NFL.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced the decision on Friday. He had previously said the decision was undecided.

“He was definitely somebody I leaned on for wisdom,” Sanders said about Flacco via FOX8 in Cleveland on Thursday. “He helped me a lot, he helped me a lot with my time being here in Cleveland and his time being here in Cleveland. Now, everybody has their own destinies and have their own plans in life. I’m just happy for him.”

Shedeur Sanders moves up Browns depth chart after Joe Flacco trade

Sanders, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, slipped to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Up until the day of the draft, he was widely expected to come off the board in Round 1. He finished his first preseason in Cleveland by completing 17-of-29 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He was sacked seven times.

Sanders will be ready if he gets the chance to start. He said last month he feels he’s “ready to play right now.” Sanders also believes he’s capable of performing better than some of the starting quarterbacks around the NFL.

“I know for sure, I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” Sanders said.

For now, it’s Gabriel’s team. Head coach Kevin Stefanski liked what he saw from the former Oregon standout in his debut. 

“For a young player in that environment versus that defense, to take care of the ball, make the plays he made I thought was a lot of positives with plenty to clean up,” Stefanski said. “And that’s what he will do. That’s the mentality that he has is certainly to be a player that continues to get better week in and week out.”

Kickoff for Sunday’s game between Cleveland and Pittsburgh is scheduled for 1:00 PM ET. The game can be seen on CBS.

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article