Tim Hasselbeck wonders if Shedeur Sanders is an NFL backup

Tim Hasselbeck made quite clear his opinion of Shedeur Sanders after his first season in the NFL.

The former quarterback said during an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” this week that he thought the Browns wouldn’t rally around Sanders and wondered if he would be a second-rounder.

“No, and they won’t. I mean that’s the reality,” Hasselbeck said. “I’m sure he’ll be on the roster because he’s on a rookie contract, or at least he’ll be on the training camp roster. He’s on a rookie contract a year ago, much like Dillon Gabriel. I think the Browns would add someone with rookie experience to compete because there’s probably no way with Shedeur’s rating as a player in the pros now, as well as how he got to the league, that they would give it to him. Opportunity.

“I mean, quite frankly, I don’t think he’ll even enter training camp as the No. 2 guy on the roster. So I don’t think that’s the way they’re going to work it out. It’s hard to become a head coach in the NFL, and if you do that, you have to try to win with a quarterback. And most players, including (coach) Todd Monken, wouldn’t try to do that with someone like Scheder.”

Hasselbeck didn’t stop there, noting that he doesn’t think Sanders has a starting job in his NFL future.

“I think there are things he does at that position very well that you need to be able to do well to play in the NFL,” Hasselbeck said. “I actually think that’s the good side of it. The bad side of it for him, I just think there’s limits to him as a player that I don’t know that anyone builds around that.”

The pro said he could see Sanders playing as a backup for an extended period of time in the NFL and getting some starting opportunities.

“There’s not one team of 32 people that would look at him right now and say, ‘Yes, I want to build around this guy,'” Hasselbeck said. “I’m not saying that to be insulting or mean, it’s just the reality of who he is as a player and how he’s perceived… around the league.”

Sanders is coming off a rookie season in which he played eight games and started seven, throwing for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns.

Monken told reporters on Tuesday During his introductory press conference, he said he was looking forward to working with Sanders, but his status at QB 1 “has yet to be determined.”

“Am I excited about Cheddar? Am I excited for all the quarterbacks in the room? Am I excited to coach this football team? Absolutely. I can’t wait for them to come back and get us started,” he said.