Shedeur Sanders will be waiting in the wings as he seeks to take to an NFL field in 2025.
With 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco having been named the Cleveland Browns‘ starting quarterback for Week 1, both Sanders and fellow 2025 NFL Draft rookie Dillon Gabriel have to wait their turn.
With the Browns getting star defensive end Myles Garrett to commit to a multi-year extension worth $160 million that sees him among the top four highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the league, there is some hope that they can better their woeful 3-14 record from last season.
Bitonio reveals all on the Cleveland QB situation
Veteran guard Joel Bitonio, who has spent his entire 11-year NFL career with the Browns, recently spoke to Nick Pedone of BIGPLAY Cleveland about what he envisions from Kevin Stefanski’s men this season.
“I want to play meaningful games in December, in January,” he said. “God, I would hope I could tell you that, ‘Hey, we’re going to the Super Bowl’.
“But I think we take it one week at a time and we compete and we have a team that fights out there, and we’re putting out stuff that we’re proud of as a team. I think that’s going to be successful for us.”
The seven-time Pro Bowler also spoke about the Browns quarterback room that has stolen the headlines for much of training camp, and what Flacco brings to the team as he goes into the 2025 campaign as the starter.
“He brings like calmness, this, you know, cool Joe to the team,” Bitonio added. “We have a quarterback that we trust and we know he’s going to make the plays. We obviously had success with him a couple of years ago and we think we can recreate that.”
Flacco re-joined the Browns this offseason for his second spell with the AFC North team, having led them to only their second postseason appearance in over two decades.
As it stands, Sanders – the son of NFL Hall of Fame legend Deion – is third on the quarterback depth chart, having survived the onslaught of cuts that claimed Tyler Huntley as a victim, while Kenny Pickett was dealt via a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Despite this, a myriad of people from around the league still believe that the Browns are sabotaging their rookie’s career.
Nonetheless, that hasn’t stopped those from within the Browns organization, like Bitonio, being impressed by what they’ve seen from the hard-working Sanders, as well as Gabriel.
“Both guys came in since day one, put their head down and worked,” he said.
“He’s [Sanders] come in and he’s worked and he gets a lot of media attention. But truthfully, (he’s) on his own, like he is dialed in. He’s, trying to learn the playbook, trying to understand what’s going on, and he’s performed well in camp.”
Initially projected to be a top first-round pick in the draft, Sanders had to wait until the fifth round to finally hear his name called out, seeing 143 players being selected before him.
Having impressed in his preseason debut in July, his last appearance certainly left a lot to be desired, with the 23-year-old throwing for a mere 14 yards off of six passing attempts.
He was also sacked five times, and lost 24 yards as he dropped back on one of his plays in Cleveland’s 19-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
“You draft quarterbacks, and it’s probably the most important position in sports,” Bitonio added. “So why not take a couple of chances at it and see if, you know, one of these guys can continue to develop and be a productive guy for us?”
Time will tell if either Gabriel or Sanders gets to take to the field, but with one of the most difficult schedules of any team this season, nothing can be fully ruled out.
But as the Browns’ starting guard, Bitonio will undoubtedly go to war for whomever is behind him under center.
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