In 2019, the Jacksonville Jaguars had an otherwise mediocre and largely irrelevant 6–10 season that won't be memorable for most NFL fans. There are a few reasons Jags fans will remember it, though, and I'm about to tell you how it relates to the 2025 Cleveland Browns.
Those Jaguars entered the season with a veteran free-agent addition in the form of Nick Foles leading the way at quarterback, just two years removed from his magical Super Bowl run with the Eagles. It's not all that different from the Browns rolling with Joe Flacco to start this year's campaign, two years off the improbable playoff run he engineered for Cleveland in 2023.
Another similarity is that both the Browns and the Jaguars had exciting, late-round rookie quarterbacks who had grown somewhat of a cult following in their respective cities due to volatile play with plenty of highs (and some head-scratching lows). For Jacksonville, it was Gardner Minshew II; for the Browns, it's Shedeur Sanders.
What can Shedeur Sanders learn from the 2019 Jaguars (and try to accomplish himself)?
Sitting at 3–11, it goes against conventional wisdom that the remaining three contests are extremely significant for the immediate future of the Cleveland Browns. History does have a way of repeating itself, though, and it shouldn't shock Browns fans if this scenario becomes reality.
The Jaguars were sitting at a woeful 4-9 with three games remaining in the campaign. What Minshew did next is exactly what Shedeur Sanders needs to do — not only to prove to the Browns he can win games at the NFL level — but also to throw a wrench into the Browns' draft plans. It becomes entirely more difficult for the Browns to replace Sanders as they get further from the top of the draft order.
Minshew picked up two wins in those games to take the Jaguars to 6–10, and more importantly, to ninth in the draft order. The QB-loaded 2020 draft class was fast and furious, with Joe Burrow going first, Tua Tagovailoa fifth, and Justin Herbert sixth. The Jaguars opted to stick with their promising signal-caller, and, in another ironic similarity, used their two first-round picks on defense in selecting C.J. Henderson and K'Lavon Chaisson.
With a reportedly light quarterback class in 2026, there's a very real chance that Shedeur Sanders' play down the stretch could earn him strong consideration for the starting gig next season.
Now, you might be wondering: This is obviously beneficial for Shedeur Sanders, but how can it be assured the Browns come out as winners as well? For one, the Browns will get a cheap starting quarterback next season (Sanders has a $1.17 million cap hit) in the final year of Deshaun Watson's albatross of a contract ($80.7M cap hit in 2026).
As far as the big picture, the ideal situation would be Sanders cementing himself as a franchise quarterback and leading the Browns into the future. On the other hand, what ultimately occurred with the Jaguars in 2020 — the wheels falling entirely off to the tune of a 1-15 record — could theoretically befall the Cleveland Browns.
Where they ultimately still win is that, if the season takes the worst turn, they can do just as the Jaguars did and select a bonafide franchise quarterback with their premium selection in the 2027 NFL Draft. The Jaguars would go on to snag Trevor Lawrence first overall in 2021. Some of the reason this year's class appears to be weaker is that the underclassmen that have either returned to school or seem to be leaning that way; those very same players will be ripe for the picking in 2027.
So, file these names in the back of your mind, just in case: Julian Sayin (Ohio State), Dante Moore (Oregon), Dylan Raiola (TBD), and Arch Manning (Texas). We'll see soon enough whether Shedeur Sanders does enough to buy himself another year at the helm.