NFL QB Carousel Spins Out of Control: Sanders, Lock, and Milton Take Over

Three NFL teams just hit the emergency eject button on their quarterbacks for Sunday, and the reasons range from medical protocol to pure desperation.

According to Adam Schefter, the Cleveland Browns are putting Deshaun Watson in concussion protocol, the Seattle Seahawks ruled out Sam Darnold with a quad injury, and the Philadelphia Eagles are just flat-out benching Tanner McKee. That means we are getting a Sunday slate featuring Shedeur Sanders, Drew Lock, and Joe Milton under center.

"Adam Schefter reported the quarterback changes for the Browns, Seahawks, and Eagles."

Let's start with Cleveland. Watson entering the protocol means Sanders gets the keys against the New Orleans Saints. Watson has been dragging around that fully guaranteed $230 million contract while posting a painfully average 85.5 passer rating over his last 15 games. Handing the offense to Sanders, who is sitting on a 4-6 career record, is the kind of chaotic pivot that swings moneyline odds and makes fantasy managers sweat for a 5-3 Browns team trying to stay in the playoff hunt.

Out in Seattle, Darnold’s quad injury forces the 4-4 Seahawks to ride the Drew Lock rollercoaster again. We already saw Lock step in earlier this year to scrape out a 13-10 win, buoyed by a defense that had to do the heavy lifting. Lock is the type of quarterback who can look like a Hall of Famer for exactly one drive before throwing a pass into triple coverage, which is terrifying if you need Seattle to cover a spread.

Then there is Philadelphia. The Eagles are a miserable 2-6, and benching McKee for Milton is less of a strategic masterstroke and more of a white flag. When your season is circling the drain and you have one of the worst against-the-spread records in the league, you might as well see how far Milton can throw the ball downfield before the pass rush gets home.

Sunday is going to be a mess of adjusted game plans and simplified playbooks. If you are tuning in to watch Sanders against New Orleans or Milton trying to salvage the Eagles' offense, prepare for a lot of running plays, a few spectacular disasters, and a very weird afternoon of football.