Shedeur Sanders’ fiercest defender is still Mel Kiper Jr. (and Browns fans love it)

With the NFL hiring cycle now in full swing, the ongoing discussion on Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and the Cleveland Browns’ future at quarterback has been tabled until a later date.

As it stands, we know the Browns will be picking No. 6 overall next April. We know Watson will remain on the roster, in the final year of his contract, for at least the start of the new league year.  We know Sanders will at least be in the mix, though GM Andrew Berry relayed Monday morning that the team won’t have a set decision on this year’s QB depth chart until the new head coach is hired.

The Browns have so many holes on the roster offensively, that giving Sanders a full offseason, training camp, and regular season as QB1 would make a ton of sense. Cleveland needs help on the offensive line, including at left tackle and center. It needs a wide receiver (or two). It could need another TE, if David Njoku moves on in free agency. 

Cleveland holds two picks in the 2026 first round, thanks to last year’s blockbuster trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Browns could definitely take a QB with one of those picks, but with a pair of young prospects in Sanders and Dillon Gabriel already on the roster, the chance to drastically improve the roster by snagging a first-round wide receiver and offensive tackle with those picks can't be ruled out.

Sanders certainly helped himself by winning his final two starts of 2025, which knocked the Browns outside of the top-three picks, and presumably out of range for this year’s top QB prospects.

And if you were to ask well-known NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr., he’d tell you — actually, he’d scream to you  — the team already has a first-round talent at the position in Sanders, who fell into the team’s lap in last year's fifth round.

Mel Kiper Jr. continues to beat the drum for Browns’ QB Shedeur Sanders

When it comes to the NFL Draft, there are rarely any guarantees. We can guarantee this, though: Kiper will definitely not be mocking a QB to Cleveland with one of its 2026 draft picks.

Kiper loved Sanders going into the 2025 NFL Draft. He listed him as his No. 1 QB, over Cam Ward, and as a top-five prospect overall. That led to Shedeur’s name being a constant in Kiper’s “best available” during ESPN’s draft broadcast, with Sanders plastered to the scroll on the bottom of the screen for two-plus days and the first 144 selections overall.

Kiper has since defended his rankings, famously voicing his “disgust” on ESPN after Sanders went undrafted on Day 2. He was at it again on Monday during a discussion on Cleveland’s QB situation with colleagues Field Yates and Mike Greenberg.

“I don’t know what else the kid needs to do. ... Drops hurt that team all year. To be able to show more mobility than anybody thought, the accuracy’s there — everything about Shedeur Sanders screams he’s the quarterback. But if people are going to be negative in April, they’re going to be  negative now, because they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, where is he ranked?’ Forget that. Look at the interceptions that were off of Jerry Jeudy, off of Judkins’ shoulder, batted balls — (Joe) Burrow had one last week; batted and a pick-six. You blaming Burrow for that? No! You blaming Shedeur for a couple batted balls that were picked off? You shouldn’t. OK?

We have to be fair here. So really, when you look at what Shedeur did this year, not having any training camp, never with the ones, getting thrown out there, playing in brutal weather conditions — not in domes and great weather — if you’re going to sit there and tell me you weren’t impressed with the rookie year of Shedeur Sanders, I would tell ya you weren’t watching the same game I was.”

Kiper really is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to Sanders slander. But the Browns obviously can’t go all-in on Sanders… yet.

They first need to find their head coach. Then, they need to figure out whether to restructure Deshaun Watson’s contract one more time to create ample (and much-needed) amounts of salary cap space, while kicking penalties into future seasons, or designate the veteran a post-June 1 cut, pay the subsequent fees, and move on entirely. 

When those two major decisions are made, the QB room shifts back into focus. The Browns could add a veteran either in free agency or the draft, or look to make a move up the draft board in April, if they fall in love with a prospect at the scouting combine.

Sanders definitely has an outside shot of getting a 2026 audition year, but it’s hardly a guarantee, and definitely not as clear-cut as Kiper lays out, as passionate as his take may be.