Former NFL quarterback Cam Newton has given his share of hot takes since retiring from the league, and he delivered his latest about Shedeur Sanders amid recent drama over the Browns rookie quarterback's silent interview.
After Dillon Gabriel was named the Browns' starting QB for Sunday's game against the Vikings, Sanders strangely mimed his answers to reporters who were trying to interview him in the locker room. Sanders reportedly pulled the stunt in response to ESPN analyst Rex Ryan's previous criticisms of him.
While many NFL pundits didn't think that was the smartest move for Sanders, Newton zoomed out to the bigger picture and claimed the Browns aren't doing a good job of setting the Colorado product up for success in his rookie year.
“I don’t think they want Shedeur Sanders to be successful in Cleveland," Newton said on his show, 4th&1 (around the 18:45 mark). "Because if you were to say, 'I want Cleveland to have a person or a figure to have every chance to be successful,' Shedeur has been the opposite of that."
Newton then discussed Sanders's preseason with the Browns that saw him log an impressive debut but then struggle in the third game, losing 41 yards on five sacks.
"When you give Shedeur an opportunity to play with viable options around him, what does he do? He performs. The next opportunity for him to perform the following week, he didn’t help his case because he had [an injury]. The following week from there, if you want to see a real clear cut identifier if he’s capable or not, you put him with the 1s. Or you put him with the valuable 2s. Don’t put him with the trash."
Newton went on to give his eyebrow-raising conspiracy theory about the Browns and Sanders, in which he seemed to suggest Cleveland wanted to keep him around on the roster for "good business" and because Sanders "moves the needle."
"This is my conspiracy theory about the Cleveland Browns," said Newton. "Shedeur Sanders is extremely talented and well and capable of being a player in the NFL. But I do not think a lot of teams are willing to risk what’s mounting in circus-like attention that he brings naturally. So therefore the Browns are stuck with this idea, if we cut Shedeur that would be bad for business. Business being, he’s good for business on our roster. If we cut him, he’s going to be picked up by somebody. When have we ever had a person on our roster to move the needle?... The Cleveland Browns have never had a player in modern day that pushes the needle like Shedeur Sanders.”
As Sanders heads into Week 5 as the third-string quarterback behind starter Gabriel and backup Joe Flacco, the media scrutiny he receives probably isn't going away anytime soon.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Former NFL QB Thinks Browns Are Sabotaging Shedeur Sanders’s Career.
