A Pro Football Hall of Famer wants the Browns to make what he believes is an obvious decision.
While appearing as a guest on “Up & Adams” this week, Emmitt Smith sounded off on new Browns coach Todd Monken for not committing to Shedeur Sanders as the squad’s starting quarterback for 2026.
The former Cowboys running back is curious about what needs to be debated, considering there are no other starter-worthy quarterbacks on the roster.
“I guess coaches want to make sure that guys know that there is no security in their position, and they want them to compete for the job. No one wants to hand anything to them,” Smith said. “This is the way they’re treating Shedeur. But they handed it to Drake Maye. They handed it to [Justin Herbert]. They handed it to [Trevor Lawrence]. They also handed it to Sam Darnold.
“What does Cleveland have? Absolutely nothing. So what’s the debate? Are you going to give it to Dillon [Gabriel] again? … I haven’t seen anyone else earn the right to be that than him. And he hasn’t played enough, and they haven’t given him enough chances to be on the football field, and when he’s on the football field, they look better.”
While Maye, Herbert, Lawrence and Darnold were handed the job, all of them were selected in the top 10 of the NFL draft, while Sanders had a major slip to the fifth round.
After Joe Flacco led the Browns to a 1-3 record to start the season, the team benched the veteran for rookie Dillion Gabriel. Yet, not much improved as Gabriel went 1-5 over six starts.
They then turned their heads to Sanders and the Browns went 3-4 with him under center.
He threw 1,400 yards for seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 56.6 percent completion rate across seven starts.
Sanders recently earned a Pro Bowl replacement spot despite the limited production.
Unless the Browns add another quarterback in the offseason, Sanders will likely have the first crack at the job.
