Heading into the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, there was chatter around the Cleveland Browns that perhaps teams were calling with interest in the team’s very crowded quarterback room. Starter Deshaun Watson will resume his spot atop the depth chart, but after a one-start stint while Watson was dealing with concussion effects, there was speculation that teams were calling about Shedeur Sanders, who threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday against the Saints. Word out of Berea was, consistently, that the Browns were not interested in dealing off one of their four quarterbacks, but the rumors persisted that there was interest.
Except that there wasn’t. Weeks after Sanders hired an agent, possibly (but only speculatively) with the intent of drumming up interest and finding a trade to a new destination, the phones were silent on Tuesday when it came to Sanders.
Browns Got No Calls on Shedeur Sanders: Fowler
That is according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who has had a bead on the Browns all season. Cleveland did not make any trades on Tuesday, of course, and will hold on to its 11-pick trove heading into next April’s NFL draft.
Speaking on ESPN Cleveland on Thursday, Fowler explained that he’d heard nothing of interest on Sanders:
“My understanding is no. Maybe they got a late call, but last I checked, I was working the trade deadline on Tuesday, I was told there was nothing there. The Browns had not gotten any intriguing calls. So it really was a quiet deadline for the Browns who put out several feelers trying to get a blocking tight end or an H-back or and extra pass rusher. You know, they were checking in on some guys. Nothing really came to fruition. I think there were calls coming in and calls going out.”
The good news in all that is that Browns are still treating Sanders like a future option to win the quarterback job, either later this year or next year. It will be in Cleveland if it happens, though.
Browns Shedeur Sanders Gets Bad News on NFL Trade Deadline Rumors