A Pro Bowl nod in your rookie season should guarantee a starting job. For Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland, it guarantees nothing. He isn’t walking into Year 2 as a locked-in starter. To address that, his father, Deion Sanders, went on First Take during Super Bowl LX week and dropped some pretty blunt advice for his son.

“Work,” Deion Sanders said on ESPN’s First Take. “That’s the way you win everything in life. I ain’t never seen somebody who didn’t want to work win. He’s a bona fide worker. He’s a true leader. He’s a bona fide baller. Just get in there with the head coach, get in there with the OC, get the playbook early, and just put in work.”

Shedeur Sanders learned about hard work firsthand, having been coached by his father, a former NFL shutdown corner, throughout his college career. In his first season without Deion Sanders in Cleveland, he went 3-4 as a starter. He was the QB4 when the season started. By Week 6, he was QB2 after Joe Flacco was traded to Cincinnati. 

Then Shedeur Sanders got a chance to start in Week 11 because Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. He hadn’t worked much with the first team, and suddenly, he was standing against the Bears, Bills, Bengals, and Steelers. His opportunity was a trial by fire against a gauntlet of tough defenses, and the results were grim: a 7:10 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a historically low 18.8 QBR for a Browns starter, raising the stakes for his future.

One of the biggest motivating aspects for Shedeur Sanders would be a desire to rewrite his draft narrative. Five quarterbacks went before him in the 2025 NFL draft as he slid all the way to the fifth round, No. 144 overall, to Cleveland. That fall changed the tone around him from Day 1, making him a “prove it” player. This moment is huge, but Deshaun Watson appears to be back in the picture.

Watson hasn’t played since Week 7 of the 2024 season because of a double Achilles injury. He’s appeared in just 19 games since the start of 2022. If he’s healthy, he’ll get a real shot with his guaranteed contract. Dillon Gabriel is also under contract. He played 10 games last season, threw for 937 yards, seven TDs, and two picks. He feels like the third name in this race right now. But you never know how fast favor can rise and fall. 

As Shedeur Sanders faces this professional crossroads, his father, always a master of messaging, posted a cryptic note on social media that seemed to speak directly to his son’s situation.

Deion Sanders delivers a cryptic message 

For most QBs, a position battle is about reads, timing, and arm strength. For Shedeur Sanders, it’s also about carrying his last name into a second NFL season that didn’t go cleanly. But could Deion Sanders’ cryptic message have something to do with him?

“You’ve got to break the cycle of pain & learn to live like you’ve never been hurt,” he wrote. “Love heals & conceals all, & time is a beautiful fragrance for forgiveness. Let’s Go.” 

While Deion’s message speaks to the mental game, the reality inside the Browns’ facility is far more straightforward. They have a new coaching staff, which means a clean slate for everyone.

“We’re going to give him a shot to prove that he’s the guy,” he said. “We’re not going to give anyone that title until they go out there and earn it.”

And you can feel the difference between getting an opportunity because of injury and keeping a job because you’re clearly better. Shedeur Sanders’ first shot came when Dillon Gabriel went down. This time, it should be cleaner, and the turnovers can’t linger. After all, the rating can’t sit at the bottom of a franchise record book, can it? So, work. That’s what Deion Sanders said.