Shedeur Sanders’ debut with the Cleveland Browns was among the most heavily covered stories of the 2025 season. Now, some weeks after its end, one of the franchise’s greatest players has some thoughts on it.
During Wednesday’s episode of the 4th & 1 podcast, former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton argued that former head coach Kevin Stefanski had poorly treated the fifth-round quarterback based on his race:
“We(‘ve) seen what you did with Shedeur, and it was unacceptable.”
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That led to blowback from Hall-of-Fame offensive tackle Joe Thomas, who brought up a list of Stefanski’s starting quarterbacks during his tenure. From there, he retorted:
“I see you are telling us Stefanski screwed Shedeur in Cleveland because Stefanski is racist against black people…(checks the record)… Race baiting looks bad on you Cam, but not as bad as that hat!”
In eight games played, including seven starts, Sanders completed 120 of 212 attempts for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns against ten interceptions. He also rushed 21 times for 169 yards and an additional score.
Ahead of the Browns’ season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals, he said about his future:
“I can’t think about other people opinion or what they view me as. I know the teams, the teams that we go against. I know they definitively respect me and the passing game, for sure. But I can’t be accountable for somebody else’s decision.”
Former Super Bowl champion says Shedeur Sanders overperformed draft position in debut season
Elsewhere, former Super Bowl-winning special teamer Je’Rod Cherry has a bold opinion on how Shedeur Sanders performed as a rookie. On Friday’s episode of ESPN 850’s The Next Level, he said:
“At worst, I say he showed 2nd round draft pick skill. … He got injected into the midpart of the season, where everybody else is in form. And he’s basically operating in preseason form.”
The Browns will enter the 2026 season with a new head coach after firing Kevin Stefanski, who has since joined the Atlanta Falcons.