One of the greatest tight ends in NFL history is now jumping into the Shedeur Sanders debate.

3-time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe isn't holding back after Kevin Stefanski announced the decision to make Sanders the starting QB for the rest of the season. Speaking on the Nightcap Show, he made his points clear.

“I really hate to feel this way. But a part of me is like, ‘Yea, we’ll let him start the rest of the season, oh Bears, Bills, Steelers, Bengals.’ If I was Shedeur, I’d be like, ‘Na, I’m good. I already showed you all what I can do. Put Dillon in there.”

Sanders' remaining games will be against teams chasing playoff spots. The Bears are in dominant form. And while the Bengals may not be a top tier team, the Bills and Steelers will definitely cause Sanders some problems.

"They picked these games. Why couldn’t you name his a** the starter three games ago? Why was it week to week? You know what? Every time he doesn’t want to answer a question, he always says, ‘Well, I don’t want to get into that.'”

Later, however, the Nightcap Show's X account replied to a post about Sharpe's comments with a screenshot of the phrase 'tongue in cheek', implying there was some degree of humor implied with his comments.

Shedeur will take any game-time he gets. This season could be crucial in proving himself as QB1 for the Browns for next season.

This leaves fans to wonder: could Shedeur Sanders be the next big thing?

One member of the Ball Boy podcast, Luca Barbu, pondered over the possibility of Sanders being the next Tom Brady. He argued that both of them have similar career trajectories.

“How did Shedeur get his first NFL start? Because of Dillon Gabriel’s concussion. How did Brady get his first NFL start? Because of Drew Bledsoe’s concussion."

Sanders debuted after Gabriel was concussed in the game against the Bengals. In 2001, Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe was drilled by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis and suffered a sheared blood vessel with internal bleeding, not a concussion. The severe injury sidelined him, so Bill Belichick started Tom Brady the next week, launching Brady’s career.

Barbu called it “rare air”, adding, “Shedeur is a late-round pick, sixth round. Brady is a late-round pick, sixth round.”

Well, for now, these are the only things that match between Sanders and Brady. If he wants to stand where Brady does, Shedeur Sanders would have to go a long way in achievements.  What do you think of this comparison? Let us know in the comments. 

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar