Breaking: Cleveland Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders is expected to start Cleveland’s preseason opener vs. the Panthers, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The Cleveland Browns are expected to start rookie Shedeur Sanders at quarterback for the team’s preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on Friday, sources told ESPN.
Sanders was selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft and was the second quarterback the Browns picked behind Dillon Gabriel, who was taken in the third round. The two rookies have been in a competition for Cleveland’s QB1 spot along with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. Former Pro Bowler Tyler Huntley also signed with the team this week.
Though Sanders has gotten the fewest reps with the team’s starters so far at training camp, hamstring injuries to both Pickett and Gabriel, and the age and experience of the 40-year-old Flacco may have paved the way for Sanders’ first NFL game action. Flacco has gotten the most reps with the team’s starters at camp.
The Browns begin joint practices with the Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday before facing off in Friday’s game.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison has been suspended for the first three games of the NFL season for violating the league’s substances of abuse policy, it was announced Tuesday.
Addison, who has spent the past two seasons as the Vikings’ No. 2 receiver, will miss the opener at the Chicago Bears and then home games against the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals.
He’ll be eligible to return for the Vikings’ Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin. In the meantime, Addison is allowed to continue to participate in all training camp activities with the Vikings, including preseason games.
Addison pleaded no contest July 17 to a lesser charge to resolve a 2024 DUI citation. The plea agreement — a charge of wet reckless driving on a highway — made him subject to NFL discipline, as it acknowledges the use of alcohol in a driving incident.
He agreed to pay a $390 fine and received 12 months of probation, which agent Tim Younger said could be cut in half if he completes two online courses.
Addison, the Vikings’ first-round pick in 2023, was charged in July 2024 with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with at least a .08% blood alcohol concentration after a West Los Angeles police officer found him asleep at the wheel of a white Rolls-Royce that was blocking a lane of I-105 westbound near Los Angeles International Airport.
The incident occurred nearly a year after Addison was cited for driving 140 mph on a Minnesota freeway in July 2023. He subsequently agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor speeding charge, with a charge of reckless driving dismissed. He paid $686 in fines.
In two seasons with the Vikings, Addison has started 29 games, totaling 133 catches for 1,786 yards and 19 touchdowns.
The top candidate to replace him in the Vikings’ starting lineup is fourth-year receiver Jalen Nailor, who started seven games in 2024.
