‘Insane:’ Former NFL QB Unloads on Browns’ Shedeur Sanders
Posted September 16, 2025
Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith unloaded on Shedeur Sanders after it was revealed he nixed the Baltimore Ravens selecting him in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Sanders had hopes of being a first-round pick, but he fell to the fifth round when the Cleveland Browns took him. Yet, before Week 2, Adam Schefter reported that the Ravens wanted to take Sanders earlier, but he shot that down.
After the report came out, Smith wasn’t happy with Sanders’ decision and felt like it was an insane decision.
“I think this is insane, if this is true, I think this is crazy,” Smith said on Sunday NFL Countdown. “At this point you’re in the fifth round. I understand you had higher hopes, but you’ve dropped to the fifth round and you’re thinking about being a starting quarterback the next year?
“I think this is incredibly short-sighted. If you’re in this situation, you want to go to an organization that is going to develop you,” Smith added. “Here you have the Baltimore Ravens are the model of stability in the NFL. This regime has been together for how many decades now? Track record of developing quarterbacks, Joe Flacco, Lamar. Instead, you choose the Cleveland Browns because you think you have a chance to start the next year. Mind you, the Cleveland Browns are the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of stability.”
The Browns haven’t had the best track record in developing quarterbacks, which is why Smith is also stunned Sanders turned down the chance to be drafted by the Ravens.
Sanders had a chance to learn from Jackson and develop for a couple of years before trying to become a starting quarterback elsewhere.
Sanders Focused on the Browns
After the report came out that Sanders shot down being picked by the Ravens, he was asked about it after the Browns’ Week 2 loss.
However, Sanders wouldn’t go too deep into it; instead, he says he’s just focused on playing for the Browns.
“My response is I’m focused on the now,” Sanders said. “I don’t really talk about anything in the past, and whatever happened in the past, it is what it is. I’m more focused on how this game went and figuring out how to move forward from here.
“You wouldn’t even believe, my memory doesn’t go back that far. I don’t even remember anything post-draft. I just remember I’m here, I go to practice every day, and it’s a 24-hour rule. … It serves no purpose in my life,” Sanders added.
Sanders has been inactive in both of Cleveland’s games this season, but soon could get a chance to play.
Cleveland Won’t Make a QB Change
The Browns benched Joe Flacco during the team’s blowout loss in Week 2 to the Ravens.
Despite Dillon Gabriel playing well, the Browns plan to stick with Flacco in Week 3.
“I don’t think we did good enough. I think that collectively as a team, we as an offense, we as the coaching staff, all of us didn’t do a good enough job,” Stefanski said about Flacco.
The Browns will host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in Week 3.
NFL RUMORS: Kirk Cousins Now a Viable Option for Bengals After Joe Burrow’s Toe Injury
The Minnesota Vikings chose signing Carson Wentz over attempting to trade for Kirk Cousins ahead of the regular season, which may prove a mistake following an injury to J.J. McCarthy in Week 2.
McCarthy is likely to miss between two and four weeks after severely spraining his ankle against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, September 14, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Cousins knows head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense and several of the players in the huddle, though he would have cost the Vikings an asset in a deal.
The team would also have likely had to pay a significant portion of Cousins’ $27.5 million base salary in 2025 at the age of 37 and coming off injuries in back-to-back seasons, all of which likely contributed to Minnesota’s choice to ink the younger and less expensive Wentz instead.
However, Wentz must now take the reins of the offense next weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals, while undrafted rookie Max Brosmer elevates into the QB2 role and the Vikings likely go on the hunt for a veteran signal-caller to add to the mix for at least as long as McCarthy is out.
Cousins is no longer as viable an option for Minnesota after the franchise brought in Wentz, but he could make sense for their Week 3 competitors. Cincinnati lost star quarterback Joe Burrow for up to three months following a toe injury Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars that will require surgery.
The Bengals have one of the NFL’s more reliable backup options in Jake Browning, though he threw three interceptions in Week 2 as Cincinnati narrowly escaped a home loss to the visiting Jaguars.
Bengals so Reliant on QB Position to Carry Team, They May Consider Expensive Trade for Kirk Cousins
The Bengals have invested massively in their offense, paying Burrow and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins north of $550 million combined on those three players’ most recent contract extensions.
Because of that, Cincinnati doesn’t have an overly impressive offensive line or defense, which has kept the team’s success teetering on the edge of a knife over the last several years. The Bengals rely so heavily on the offense to carry the team and so heavily on Burrow to carry the offense; however, by not protecting Burrow appropriately, the organization also constantly risks everything falling apart.
That burden now falls to Browning who has appeared in 13 career games, starting seven of them (4-3). He boasts a career completion percentage of nearly 70% and has tallied 2,177 passing yards, 14 TDs and 10 INTs over his three years in Cincinnati. A total of 241 of those yards, as well as two TDs and three INTs, came against Jacksonville in Week 2.
Browning actually began his career with the Vikings in 2019 as an undrafted rookie.
Bengals Can Afford Trade for Kirk Cousins Under Right Circumstances
Cousins is a far more accomplished and experienced player than Browning. The question is whether the Bengals want to spend what it would require to trade for him.
The answer could be yes, simply given how much Cincinnati leans on the QB position and how quickly its season might crumble if Browning struggles or suffers an injury of his own.
Cousins has a no-trade clause but would likely be willing to waive it for a chance to play with Chase and Higgins in a high-powered offense that needs the QB to throw the ball effectively and at high-volume to even stay in games, let alone win them.
The Bengals currently have nearly $13 million in cap space and could probably work out a deal with the Falcons to take on only so much of Cousins’ 2025 salary that it fits under that number.
