Todd McShay predicts Shedeur Sanders' future in NFL will not be with Cleveland Browns

Shedeur Sanders earned his opportunity to be the starter, and now will be for the remainder of this season, for the Browns. As for his professional career, though, Todd McShay still doesn’t expect that it’ll continue to be spent long-term in Cleveland.

McShay shared that take while appearing on ‘Triple Option’ on Monday. He thinks that, based on what the franchise has seemingly thought about him at times since he was drafted, and the current state of the franchise with changes maybe to come, Sanders will likely be playing elsewhere, whenever that may be, in the NFL.

“I don’t think it’s in Cleveland,” McShay said of Sanders’ future. “I say that because I’m not convinced that the coaching staff wanted to draft him. And you can kind of see that they blocked with everything they had, him playing, or even being, feeling like he was a player that they were developing. I never got that sense that they were putting the effort in this season, even with Shedeur as a backup, to get him prepared for the moment that arose with the injury to Dillon Gabriel.

“And so, we’ll see how that goes the rest of the season. But, honestly, my guess is, depending on what – you know, is it the same general manager, Andrew Berry? Is it the same head coach, Kevin Stefanski, next year? If it is, I think that he’s playing now to get the attention of the other 31 organizations to try to get an opportunity, whether that’s – it would most likely have to be in a trade, or else he’s going to have to ride out the remaining three years in his rookie deal.”

With how things went in the 2025 NFL Draft, including even his eventual selection in the fifth round by Cleveland, it was a wonder of who wanted Sanders. That continued going into this season as he began as the third-string quarterback for the Browns.

However, after the trade of Joe Flacco, and a concussion that sidelined Dillon Gabriel, Sanders has emerged over the last three weeks with four appearances, three of those being starts, for Cleveland since Week 11. He, in those games, has posted 52.4% completion for 769 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions, including being up to 50-87 (57.5%) for 722 passing yards, averaging 240.7 per game, with three of the touchdowns and two of the picks in his three starts for the Browns.

With that, speaking more on him, McShay does think that Sanders can be a future, multi-year starter, wherever he may be, in the National Football League. That said, that’s full knowing that he has a lot of development left to do with his game.

“I think he can,” said McShay. “I think he has a lot of maturing to do. I really do. I think both as an individual, and as a quarterback and learning to play within the scheme. I think there’s a lot of drifting and sliding out of the pocket. I think there’s this innate, because of the way he played at Colorado and throughout his college career? There’s this, like, kind of hero brand of quarterback that he likes to play where every play has to be a home run, and he’s got to run around and do all those things.

“I think, I always called him, coming out? He had the bad tendencies that Caleb Williams had that he developed at USC, but he doesn’t have the arm or the mobility that Caleb possessed to get out of that trouble. And we’ve seen Caleb make big strides with Ben Johnson, but he’s still not there yet. And so, Shedeur would have to make those same strides, and doesn’t have the athleticism and the arm strength. He has a good arm, but Caleb has a special arm. So, I think that, to me, is kind of the difference.”

In his chance to end this season in Cleveland, Sanders has actually shown some moments of who he could become in the NFL. But, it may just be as a traveled quarterback in the end, as McShay doesn’t think he’ll be staying with the Browns.

“I think three, four years down the road, like we’ve seen with Baker (Mayfield) or Sam Darnold, some of these guys who are, quote unquote, retreads that have success? I think there’s a chance down the line,” said McShay. “I don’t see it in the near future, though.”