The agent is analyzing the odds of Shedeur Sanders getting a starting opportunity despite the backup role
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Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is currently in quarterback purgatory with the Cleveland Browns. But one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks believes there is still hope for his rookie career.
Sanders’ teammate and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel has been optioned to the Browns’ starting quarterback, with the team trading veteran Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday.
Sanders, now the team’s No. 2 player behind Gabriel, generated mixed media attention last week when asked about Gabriel’s starting position. Sanders responded by saying the words silently without speaking, like a mime.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shader Sanders, foreground, walks off the field after the NFL football team’s minicamp in Berea, Ohio, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogroki)
Agent Lee Steinberg, who represents a record eight draft picks, suggested he believed Sanders’ response was a product of competitive frustration.
“I thought he was OK with the answer,” Steinberg told Fox News Digital. “It is unrealistic to expect players to be thrilled and delighted with a back-up position.”
However, Steinberg hoped that Sanders would provide a more substantive answer if the upstart was his client.
“I think realistically the answer is going to be in two parts. One is, ‘Obviously I’m eager to be a starter in this league, and I think that’s my destiny, but in the meantime, I’m going to do everything I can to support Dillon Gabriel.'” “I think that’s the answer,” Steinberg said.
Gabriel passed for 190 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start for the Browns on Sunday, but the team lost to the Minnesota Vikings 21-17. Gabriel was taken as Cleveland’s second-string overall pick after being selected with the team’s third-round pick in this year’s draft.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) looks to pass the ball against the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter of an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 5, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagine Images)
Although Sanders was considered a better prospect than Gabriel coming out of college, he was not selected until the fifth round, when the Browns selected him with the 144th pick. Sanders was a projected contender for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, but fell all the way to the fifth round in one of the most surprising and unprecedented draft slides in NFL history.
Now Sanders has been moved to a backup role behind another rookie in Cleveland, where Gabriel could prove to be the Browns’ long-term starter, leaving Sanders without a clear path to becoming a starter himself. But Steinberg, as an agent, believes it is “almost certain” that Sanders will start at quarterback at some point this year.
Steinberg also believes sitting out will still be beneficial to Sanders’ stock as a quarterback in the long term.
“If Dillon Gabriel becomes the quarterback of the future, someone else will give Shedor Sanders a chance,” Steinberg said.
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Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Huntington Bank Field on September 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
“Use the time as a backup to learn as much as you can [you can]. Not starting year one is what started the careers of Gordon Love, Patrick Mahomes, and Aaron Rodgers — all of those players sat out a year.
Steinberg said the amount of time Sanders has to wait patiently as a backup is “a couple of years” before pursuing a new team.
“At this point, all you know as a backup agent is that someone else is getting their shot, and we’ll see and make decisions later, depending on what the situation is later,” Steinberg said.
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