What to expect from Browns QB Shedeur Sanders' final 2025 start

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns' season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals (6-10) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) will mark the seventh and final start of the season for rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

The game also serves as the final chance for Sanders to leave a lasting impression on the Browns organization ahead of an offseason that once again figures to be rife with quarterback questions.

Sanders, though, said he's seeking only to showcase consistency in his final start of the Browns' 4-12 season.

"Just staying consistent, taking what they give me," Sanders said Wednesday. "Whenever we get off rhythm, get back on rhythm, you know, get back on track. And I think that's the next part of my game I'm trying to evolve, is whenever either we're stagnant or some adversity comes, being able to get back on track."

The Browns are 2-4 since Sanders, the No. 144 overall pick in last April's draft, took over as the starter in Week 12. He has shown flashes, displaying the ability to push the ball downfield and turning possible sacks into positive plays. Sanders has also made his fair share of rookie mistakes, from bad decision-making on throws to holding on to the ball too long in search of a big play.

In his six starts this season, Sanders ranks 28th out of 29 qualifying quarterbacks in Total QBR (25.2). During that time frame, he has thrown seven touchdowns to seven interceptions, the latter of which is the most in the NFL.

Sanders' average time to throw (3.22 seconds) trails only San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy (3.24 seconds), but he has also had to drop back behind a makeshift offensive line that has only one Week 1 starter -- left guard Joel Bitonio -- remaining in the lineup. Sanders has been pressured on 44.1% of his dropbacks, which trails only Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert (44.6%).

The Browns' Week 17 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers was a microcosm of Sanders' time as the Browns' starting quarterback. Sanders completed 17 of 23 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the 13-6 victory, and the opening stretch of the game was one of the best sequences from Sanders this season.

He completed 10 of his first 13 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown through the first 20 minutes of the first half. On his 14th attempt, though, Sanders was hit from his blind side while attempting a pass, which ricocheted off a helmet, and was intercepted. Sanders then made a poor decision early in the fourth quarter and was intercepted while throwing across his body. The Browns' offense stalled in the second half, scoring three points after halftime.

"I got to be able to take the proper, necessary risk," Sanders said. "And even whenever you go through your progressions and the checkdown isn't there, then what? So that's kind of where I feel like the strides have been made from getting to the reads, getting to the checkdown. Now, the biggest jump I'll say for me, is I plan on showing and plan on improving is when there is no play and I can't get out of it, I can't run -- what I'm going to do with the ball."

Despite Sanders' ups and downs, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has seen week-to-week improvement from the rookie quarterback.

"Continue to build, continue to build on the things that he's doing really well," Stefanski said of Sanders. "Like I've told you guys, there's things that you ask him to improve upon each week, and he's diligent about those things. So it's just improving and then winning. We talked about that last week. We want to win as a football team, obviously, as quarterbacks, we get judged oftentimes on wins and losses, and it's important, you know, to finish strong. So that's what he's going to try and put this team in a position to go win."

As uncertainty surrounds the future of Stefanski, so does that of Sanders as the Browns' franchise quarterback. Cleveland's win against the Steelers was a victory that could have major draft implications and alter the path of the Browns' offseason; it moved the team out of the inside track for a top-two pick in the 2026 NFL draft (a pick that could be used on a quarterback).

Deshaun Watson, who did not play this season as he rehabbed last season's Achilles tear, is reportedly set to return to Cleveland in 2026. And third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, who started six consecutive games before sustaining a concussion in Week 11, is still under contract.

"I can't think about what other people's opinion or what they view me as," Sanders said when asked if he has shown he can be a franchise quarterback. "I know the teams that we go against, I know they definitely respect me in the passing game, for sure, but I can't be accountable for somebody else's decisions."