Despite being a fifth-round pick just one year ago and starting seven games as a rookie for the Browns in 2025, Shedeur Sanders has been heavily involved in trade rumors. If Cleveland does, in fact, choose to move on from him this offseason, here are three potential landing spots that could pursue the former Colorado star.
3 Landing Spots for Shedeur Sanders Amid Recent Trade Rumors
Dallas Cowboys
What type of offseason would it be if Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys weren’t linked to a polarizing, big-name player like Sanders? Three summers ago, Dallas traded a fourth-round pick for former 49ers No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance, and in the spring of 2025, it dealt a fifth-round pick for Joe Milton III.
While Milton remains under contract, both quarterback experiments appear to have fallen short. Third time could be the charm.
Jones could acquire Sanders for relatively cheap and give him the opportunity to develop behind Dak Prescott as the team’s long-term backup.
San Francisco 49ers
Arguably, nobody in the NFL is better at developing quarterbacks than 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. For years, he helped Jimmy Garoppolo play at a high level, and more recently, he developed Brock Purdy into one of the league’s better quarterbacks.
He’s also helped former first-round pick Mac Jones get his career back on track. With just one year remaining on Jones’ contract, however, the 49ers’ long-term quarterback depth is fairly thin.
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Sanders would likely begin as the team’s QB3 behind Purdy and Jones in 2026 before moving into the backup role if Jones departs next offseason. Given the similarities between Sanders’ and Purdy’s skill sets, playing under Shanahan and the 49ers would be an ideal situation for him to continue to grow.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding Baker Mayfield this offseason, and the rest of the quarterback room doesn’t offer much long-term optimism. Behind Mayfield are veteran Jake Browning, along with Connor Bazelak and Jalon Daniels.
As it stands, none of those three appear to be part of Tampa Bay’s long-term plans. If contract negotiations with Mayfield ultimately fall through and the Buccaneers disappoint this season, they’ll likely be in the market for quarterback talent.
While they could always address the position in next year’s draft, Tampa Bay should still be competitive enough to keep itself out of the top 5-10 picks. Sanders could give the Buccaneers a developmental option behind Mayfield before eventually taking over as the team’s long-term starter.