Shedeur Sanders blasted for ‘clownish’ response to second shot with Browns with $50m on line

Shedeur Sanders is on the verge of being gifted with another golden opportunity. But some NFL fans are concerned about the football focus of the former fifth-round draft pick . “Clownish behavior,” one fan tweeted. “A mature person would have given a mature answer,” a second fan wrote. Those messages were in response Sander’s odd comments on Wednesday. With Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Deshaun Watson dealing with an unexpected mid-week concussion protocol diagnosis, Sanders is in line to make his first NFL start since the end of the 2025 season. Watson has started all eight of the Browns’ games this year. Cleveland is 5-3 entering Week 9, while battling the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals for first place in the AFC North. If Sanders starts on Sunday, the second-year QB will face a struggling New Orleans Saints team (2-5) that ranks 29th in the league in average points allowed (27.7). “Yeah, I’ve seen a lot,” said Sanders, when asked about potentially facing the Saints’ defense. “When I smile, just know that means something. I’m maturing, you know what I’m saying? I’m maturing. Like, I could have gave that a decent answer. But, now, I’m just going to smile.” It appeared that the 24-year-old Sanders was hinting he had seen a weakness in New Orleans’ defense several days before kickoff. View Tweet: https://x.com/hashtag/Browns?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw “Maturing means you probably wouldn’t have said anything in this situation but OK,” a fan posted. “Saints win easily if he plays,” a second fan wrote. “Save this tweet.” “He better ball out with all that laughing coming off the bench,” a third fan said. Watson is expected to remain the Browns’ starter once he clears the concussion protocol. So this could be a brief one-game audition for Sanders before the November 10 trade deadline. He’s playing for his future in Cleveland and the NFL. If he eventually plays his way into a second pro contract, Sanders could average at least $50 million a year once he’s past his initial $4.6m rookie deal. The former Colorado star and son of NFL great Deion Sanders struggled overall as a rookie , completing just 56.6 percent of his passes and throwing more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (seven). But Sanders showed flashes of his athletic potential in the pros, including a 364-yard outing in a gutsy performance versus the Tennessee Titans in Week 14. “I can’t wait,” Browns head coach Todd Monken said. “It’s so cool. That’s an opportunity.” He added: “I can’t wait to see him let it rip (Wednesday) and see where he’s at.” Sign up for talkSPORT Stateside , the YouTube channel dedicated to passionate US Sports fans. Will Gavin, Brian T. Smith, former NFL star Efe Obada and a collection of special guests debate the biggest talking points across the NFL, soccer, NBA and more.