With a 2-5 record in what looks to be a transition year, the Cleveland Browns are practically just seeing what they have in their players at the moment. No one expected the team to be amazing, but it felt like the front office gave up very early on the season, trading starting quarterback Joe Flacco away after just four starts; to a division rival, no less.
Flacco wasn’t performing well, but he has already had impressive performances for the Cincinnati Bengals. That has put a spotlight on head coach Kevin Stefanski, who couldn’t get much out of Flacco this season, and has guided Dillon Gabriel to a handful of underwhelming performances. Since the Browns need to see if they have a franchise quarterback on their roster, the idea of Shedeur Sanders seeing the field at some point has gained a lot of steam.
Even if Sanders does see the field this season, it’s unclear what his future with the organization truly holds. Sanders operated as the team’s No. 4 quarterback for the whole summer, until Kenny Pickett was traded away. Even when Gabriel was named as the starter, Flacco backed him up instead of Sanders, who remained last on the depth chart. The key to all of this may be Stefanski, and he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Kevin Stefanski gets vote of confidence from Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam recently spoke about the current season and Stefanski’s job security because of the rough start. In Haslam’s eyes, Stefanski is the guy to lead the team for the foreseeable future.
Kevin’s done a really good job with us, and we’ve had some tough breaks. [The Deshaun Watson] trade we made didn’t work out, and you know, we’re all suffering from that. Kevin, I thought, really did a great job of rallying the troops last week at a really critical time. You find out about leaders when things are bad, not when they’re good, and he did a good job last week.
Stefanski remaining the head coach in Cleveland could be bad news for Sanders. Many fans have developed a theory that Stefanski simply doesn’t like Sanders. It certainly hasn’t helped that Stefanski hasn’t said too many positive things about the fifth round rookie, while also burying him on the depth chart until he had no other choice.
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