Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Gets Honest About his Offseason

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The NFL offseason is a chance for players to get away from football for a few months before the summer grind leading up to a new season begins. Even team activities this time of year are considered voluntary for players.

For second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders, instead of getting away from the Cleveland Browns' team facility, he couldn't get enough of it. The 2025 fifth-round pick opted for training and working out in Berea throughout the offseason. Also, making sure he was in the building when new head coach Todd Monken opened up the first phase of his voluntary program earlier this month.

It was all in the name of building upon a promising rookie campaign in the pursuit to be great.

“Well, this is the most important thing I have to do in my life," Sanders said at volnatry minicamp on Tuesday. "I have a house here. I’m comfortable and I wanted to take everything to the next level within myself. I know with some things that I wanted to improve and I took a lot of time to self-reflect and just do a lot of things just from a different perspective, honestly. And I think I covered a lot of ground with that."

Last offseason was obviously very different for Sanders, as it is for all players prepping to be drafted. Sanders spent months training to just hear his name called by a team in late April. Then after being selected by Cleveland at pick 155, there's no rest for weary as rookie mincamp turns into OTAs, turns into mandatory minicamp, before a month reprieve and then training camp. There's simply no rest for the weary.

This year, Sanders could just focus on football and maybe more specifically honing his craft. Practice already feels a little different too, even if Tuesday was just the first day of on field work the team is allotted for this special bonus minicamp.

“Well, honestly, I mean, I was in practice a little more," Sanders joked about the biggest differences ik his preparation this year. "No, honestly, it's just the vibe, the overall feeling just of the team. It's the overall feeling of the responsibility of our players."

Being around the building allowed Sanders to connect with Monken the moment he arrived in the building. Their first interaction was captured by the Browns social media team, with Monken joking with Sanders that his former team, the Baltimore Ravens wanted to draft Sanders last year.

Monken has brought a new energy to the building. Those conversations with his new head man have set the tone for his second season.