Shedeur Sanders faced a defining moment before his NFL career even began. The Baltimore Ravens were set to draft him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft. But Lamar Jackson is a star that’s unlikely to relinquish playing time anytime soon. Knowing that he won’t get the spotlight, Sanders passed on that opportunity and looked for other places. That choice set Sanders on a complicated path.

As ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed, “Ravens planned to take Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round, but before Baltimore could turn in the card, the former Colorado star let it be known that he didn’t want to be on a roster with Lamar Jackson, where he would be a backup.” The Ravens backed off and instead picked offensive lineman Carson Vinson. Just three picks later, the Browns selected Sanders with the 144th overall pick.

At the time, Shedeur Sanders’ move felt smart. Avoid sitting behind a franchise icon in hopes of a faster path to playing. The Dawg Pound kept buzzing with excitement as the rookie looked sharp throughout the offseason. He showed promise in his preseason. But an oblique injury caused him to miss time, and a rough finale against the Rams raised questions about his readiness again. And now, Sanders finds himself behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel on the depth chart, designated as the emergency third-string quarterback. The bitter irony is sharp.

Sanders avoided Baltimore to dodge Lamar Jackson’s shadow, only to be left on the sidelines in Cleveland. Instead of leading his own team’s scout offense, he watches and waits, trapped in a similar backup role he tried to avoid in the first place. What’s more, Shedeur Sanders’ stocks saw a sharp dip recently with harsh criticism from ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo. It wasn’t because of what he has done on the field, but what he isn’t (as Rizzo noted) doing on the field.

Tony Rizzo makes a case to cast aside Shedeur Sanders

Off the field, things looked even worse for Shedeur Sanders. On 11th September, Thursday, Tony Rizzo unloaded harsh criticism at Sanders. “I’m hearing Shedeur is not even running scout team,” Rizzo said bluntly. “He’s literally watching everyone play. Why is he on the team? Why is he even here? If that’s what you think about, because his jersey is selling, they don’t need, the Haslam’s don’t need jersey money, do they?” Rizzo’s pointed questioning threw serious doubt around Sanders’ role. But Browns’ QB coach Bill Musgrave later shed light on the matter.

The next day, (Friday, September 12), Musgrave was asked to clarify whether Shedeur had indeed sat out running the scout team. He noted that the Browns have given all the backups a shot at running the scout team. As Musgrave put it, “I’d say it’s a little bit different. It’s exciting because those guys do take pride in getting the defense ready. They want to do a good job of replicating the opponent’s offense and at the same time, they want to try to relate any play that they get to our game plan for that week too, so they can feel like they can get a little double duty.” So, it looks like Tony Rizzo might have been misinformed. But Shedeur Sanders still has a steep climb ahead of him.

Sanders’ draft gamble, to reject Baltimore’s offer and seek playing time elsewhere, now echoes like a misstep. He’s on the roster but on the periphery, with sparse reps and minimal practice involvement. As Cleveland prepares to face Baltimore, Sanders will stare down the door he chose not to enter. The Browns, on the other hand, must decide whether Sanders’ stalled start defines his future or if he can rewrite the script. The clock’s ticking. By the time the season winds down, will we see Shedeur under center?