The Opening Drive 12/24: Outcome of Final Two Weeks Leaves Browns To Face Fork In The Road
The final two week of the Browns 2025 season will have significant impact on direction of the offseason.
The Cleveland Browns are staring at a fork in the road with two weeks left in the 2025 NFL regular season. The potential outcomes could swing in two very different directions depending on how the final two weeks play out.
The Browns could lose their final two games and end up with a top-two pick in the draft, allowing them to select either Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore, the two elite quarterback prospects in the 2026 class. At the same time, Shedeur Sanders has acquitted himself well, showing enough promise that if the team were to win one or both of its final two games and end up with a draft position outside the reach of either prospect, they should elect to move forward with Sanders into the 2026 season. The details surrounding either outcome vary wildly.
The Browns are currently in line to draft in the top two if they lose out. Sanders, who has shown real promise and is a legitimate option moving forward, hasn’t done enough to deter the Browns from selecting either Moore or Mendoza if that opportunity presents itself. This is admittedly up for debate; however, the chance to take a swing at either quarterback prospect is likely too tempting to pass up. Sanders looks like he can develop into a starter in this league, but given the admittedly unfair situation for a rookie quarterback, he probably hasn’t done enough to persuade the Browns to bypass the opportunity that would come with two losses.
However, should the Browns win one of their final games, they would likely end up selecting at or just outside of the top five. In that scenario, a move to acquire Moore or Mendoza would be a costly enterprise, likely requiring a significant investment of draft capital to move back up into position. A team in the Browns’ situation needs every bit of that capital to help overhaul its offense. Both the offensive line and wide receiver positions require major rebuilds this offseason, and trading away their second first-round pick (from Jacksonville), along with potentially other high-value selections this year or next, would be an unlikely sacrifice—especially when Sanders has shown enough to justify giving him more opportunity to prove he can be the team’s quarterback of the future.
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This is where it gets really tricky, as either outcome could lead to a major coaching overhaul, starting with head coach Kevin Stefanski. However, that decision may depend heavily on which path the Browns end up taking at quarterback. Aligning a head coach with Sanders versus a top-two draft pick could lead to very different choices about the best way forward.
If the Browns are seriously considering a change at head coach, they have likely already been working behind the scenes—back-channeling with agents and the like—to gauge which coaching candidates would be interested in the position should it become available. Those conversations would have to include a candidate’s feelings about the team’s direction at quarterback, including their preference and willingness to take over a Browns team with Sanders as the quarterback and Deshaun Watson still on the roster.
The outcomes of the Browns’ final two games could also be impacted by factors beyond their own control, including the postseason race. This all begins Saturday night when the Ravens face the Packers. If the Ravens were to lose, Pittsburgh could be inclined to rest some veterans in Week 17, depending on whether it can improve its postseason seeding with a win over the Browns—which seems unlikely. If the Ravens win Saturday night, the Steelers’ approach to Sunday’s game against the Browns takes on significant meaning, and Cleveland would likely face a very different Steelers team in terms of motivation and personnel. This is complicated further by the unknown health status of both the Ravens’ and Packers’ starting quarterbacks.
Week 18 against the Bengals also includes uncertainty at this point, as Joe Burrow has expressed a desire to play out the rest of the season despite Cincinnati’s elimination from playoff contention. That said, this feels like a risky organizational approach with Burrow in a meaningless Week 18 game. The Browns may instead face Joe Flacco or, more likely, Jake Browning.
Evaluations of where Sanders currently stands—and where he may ultimately land—as an NFL starting quarterback vary depending on who you ask. Still, from where I’m sitting, a wide range of outcomes remains on the table, including Stefanski’s future. All of it could break in any number of directions based on the final two weeks of the season and where the Browns ultimately end up picking in the 2026 NFL Draft.
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