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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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After an offseason spent under the microscope as he was locked in a four-player quarterback competition, Cleveland Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders can seemingly breathe a sigh of relief.
After the Browns traded Kenny Pickett—one of the signal-callers Sanders was trying to fend off—to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday for a fifth-round pick, the 23-year-old Colorado alum found out he had made the team's 53-man roster earlier as Cleveland's No. 3 QB.
But some continued to question Sanders' place on the Browns after the team signed another quarterback on Wednesday, inking former New England Patriots passer Bailey Zappe to the practice squad — a move many seemed convinced was for insurance purposes in case Sanders was either traded or couldn't hack at as the third-stringer.
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If there were any questions about Sanders' role on the team moving forward, head coach Kevin Stefanski answered them while also seemingly silencing any speculation that Zappe was a threat to Sanders' roster spot.
"#Browns coach Kevin Stefanski tells reporters that Shedeur Sanders will be the third QB, meaning he's able to dress for games," Rapoport stated.
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Stefanski's remarks put to bed the conjecture that Zappe was brought it to be the Browns' emergency third QB on game days — a role that is clearly Sanders' for now.
Per NFL rules, teams can dress three quarterbacks on game days with the third being designated as the team's "emergency third QB," meaning Sanders dressing won't take away a spot on Cleveland's 46-man active roster from another player.
Though Sanders failed to beat out Gabriel for the Browns' No. 2 QB job, some are still high on his potential as a future starting NFL quarterback, including Browns legend Joe Thomas, who recently sung Sanders' praises during an interview with Outkick.com.
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"He has a higher ceiling (than most fifth-round picks)," Thomas said. "He's a great playmaker, has tremendous accuracy. He has that feel when he's in the game of how to make big plays. But just because you have that ceiling that's really high and that potential to be able to do that, that doesn't mean you can do that right now.
"...I think the reason Shedeur fell to the fifth round is because he's got a lot of development that he still needs to do before he can be an NFL starting quarterback."
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