Browns QB Shedeur Sanders ‘surprised’ by Pro Bowl nod, says new coach Todd Monken has ‘great vibe’
After an assortment of Pro Bowl opt-outs, Sanders was one of three quarterbacks to land on the AFC roster, joining Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Joe Flacco. The latter provided Sanders with a familiar face after he spent the summer and first month of the 2025 season sharing the same QB room with Flacco in Cleveland.
To Sanders’ delight, Flacco — who is also making his first Pro Bowl trip in his much longer career — hadn’t changed much from September to February.
“I already gained it,” Sanders said when asked what he hoped to gain from his Pro Bowl experience. “Talking to a lot of great players, seeing Joe Flacco again with the same sweatpants he wore in practice, everything. Just meeting people; it’s a great environment. I’m excited to be here. I’m thankful for it.”
Sanders’ last year has been full of unexpected outcomes, starting with his fall from a first-round projection to a fifth-round selection made by the Browns. It continued when he found himself in the third place on Cleveland’s depth chart, then replaced an injured Dillon Gabriel during the Browns’ Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and eventually assumed the starting role for the remainder of a season that ended with the firing of his coach, Kevin Stefanski.
Asked to summarize his first NFL season, Sanders was concise: “Fun,” he said, putting a positive spin on Cleveland’s 5-12 finish. “It was fun.”
The Colorado product might be encountering the most enjoyable portion of his NFL experience to date now, though, while surrounded by a cast of AFC all-stars.
