Browns need to move on from Shedeur Sanders and forgotten $230m QB and go all in on Fernando Mendoza

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

For the Cleveland Browns, ‘the same thing’ has become a toxic cycle of high-priced gambles and late-round developmental projects that leave the franchise stuck in the mud of the AFC North.

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As we stare down the 2026 NFL Draft, the Browns sit on a goldmine: the 6th and 24th overall picks.

This is the moment for GM Andrew Berry and owner Jimmy Haslam to stop flailing with the QB room and start taking control of it.

Get on the same page and have a clear plan moving forward.

Browns need to forget Shedeur Sanders and go all out for Fernando Mendoza

It’s time to package those picks, call the Las Vegas Raiders, and move up to No. 1 for the only man who can actually save this franchise: Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

The Heisman Trophy winner is the antithesis of the Browns’ $230 million mistake in trading for and extending Deshaun Watson.

If there was ever a player who could remove the nasty taste of Watson out of the Dawg Pound’s mouth, it’s the jovial Mendoza.

Let’s be honest about Watson.

The ‘bridge to the future’ narrative is a fairy tale. Watson’s $80.7 million cap hit in 2026 isn’t a reason to start him; it’s a sunk cost that has paralyzed the roster.

Since 2020, he hasn’t looked like a top-tier starter, and even the ‘veteran presence’ he allegedly provided to the rookies last year couldn’t mask the fact that he saw zero game action in 2025.

Keeping Watson as the starter is a white flag. It signals to the fans, and the locker room, that the Browns are more worried about the ledger than the win-loss column.

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Of course, this was all of their own doing, with no one to blame but themselves, but there has to come a point when they finally say enough is enough.

As for Shedeur Sanders, it’s clear that he can be a competent backup, not a franchise cornerstone.

When Cleveland took Sanders in the fifth round last year, it was a low-risk flier. But after a 2–4 stint as a starter and a touchdown-to-interception line that would make a ’90s Browns fan cringe (7 TDs, 10 INTs), the verdict is clear: he isn’t an NFL QB1.

Sanders showed poise and flashes that suggest he could eventually be someone an organization can count on, but Mendoza’s ceiling appears to be astronomically higher.

While Sanders was managing games that were often hard to watch, Mendoza was leading Indiana to a Big Ten title, a national championship appearance, and the Heisman Trophy.

Mendoza beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship, crushed Alabama in the Rose Bowl, dismantled Oregon in the Peach Bowl, and carried one of college football’s historically losingest programs to the brink of a national title.

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The Raiders are in the catbird seat to land him at No. 1 and may not budge—they hold the top pick and need a QB. But the Browns have something Vegas desperately needs for a rebuild: volume.

In this hypothetical trade, the Browns would land the No. 1 overall pick, while the Raiders would get the 2026 No. 6 and No. 24 picks, plus a 2027 first-rounder.

Yes, they would likely have to include next year’s first-round pick to pry the top pick from the Raiders.

It’s a lot, no doubt. Yes, it “mortgages the future.” But look at the alternative. If the Browns stay at No. 6, they likely miss out on Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore.

They’d be left reaching for a second-tier prospect or, worse, running it back with a Watson/Sanders room that wouldn’t inspire any confidence.

The Browns have spent years being aggressive in all the wrong ways.

Moving up for Mendoza is the first time they’d be aggressive for the right reason: a blue-chip, high-character, elite-production quarterback who hasn’t been broken by the NFL yet.

Cut the ties. Pay the price. Draft the Hoosier.

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