When the Browns traded Joe Flacco to the Bengals on Tuesday, one question popped up for many: Does this mean Shedeur Sanders is now Cleveland’s backup quarterback?
The team listed Sanders behind fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel as QB2 on its unofficial depth chart. But Sanders isn’t the only other healthy quarterback in the building, as the Browns also have Bailey Zappe on their practice squad. He’s not on the unofficial depth chart at all because he’s not on the 53-man roster.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked if Sanders would be the backup for the Week 6 matchup against the Steelers in his Wednesday press conference.
But he didn’t give an answer.
“[We’re] still working through all roster-type of things,” Stefanski said. “I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development. I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players, and, of course, our team. But with young players, I’m always thinking about — last week, making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that because these are young players that you’re so invested in their development. So, I’ll let the week play out, make a decision later on that.”
Stefanski stressed that he wants to make sure players are set up for success.
“Need to work through it all,” Stefanski said. “Just, again, really like the guys we have, just have to work through all of them.”
Zappe started the last game of the season for Cleveland last year, so the 26-year-old does have some knowledge of what it’s like playing for the club. A 2022 fourth-round pick, Zappe inherently has more experience, as he’s appeared in 15 games with nine starts, spending time with a few different organizations.
When asked what Sanders needs to do to show he should be the backup, Stefanski said there isn’t any one thing.
“I just, in my role, I have to do what’s best for our players, our team,” Stefanski said. “And I’m very, very invested in our player development, our young players’ development, our quarterback development. So, any decision I make, I just want to make sure I’m doing what’s right for our players.
“I’m really, really pleased with our young guys and how they work. This is not a group that you have to prod into doing extra — whether that’s in the weight room, in the meeting room, out on the fields. We are really pushing these guys to improve, and I see that from Shedeur. I see that from all these young guys, which is the fun part for us as coaches, to see a lot of the work that you’re putting in — that’s showing up in how these guys are performing.”
Either way, Gabriel is set to start his second game of the season against Pittsburgh on Sunday. We’ll see later in the week if the Browns elect to place Zappe on the 53-man roster to either serve as the backup or emergency third QB in Week 6.