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After one of the most historic and publicized NFL Draft slides in modern history, polarizing Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has found a team: The Cleveland Browns. Sanders was once thought […]
After one of the most historic and publicized NFL Draft slides in modern history, polarizing Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has found a team:
The Cleveland Browns.
Sanders was once thought to be a top five pick, or even the best quarterback available this year. ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. had Sanders ranked as his fifth overall prospect, and top quarterback, ahead of Miami quarterback Cam Ward who went first overall to the Tennessee Titans.
As the 2025 NFL Draft approached, narratives changed, as they so often do, hinting that Sanders might not be a top five pick: but still had first round potential. Teams opted to go with “safer” talent of other positions in the Top 10, with Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty, Tetairoa McMillan, Mason Graham, and Colston Loveland all coming off the board. Of these top ten teams, the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns has a clear need at quarterback, while the Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints also had some due diligence to do at the quarterback position.
So far, no harm, no foul really. The Giants can’t be faulted for going with Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter, and the Raiders already have Geno Smith at quarterback, Ashton Jeanty is a much more valuable pick for a win-now team.
Once the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have just Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson under contract at the quarterback position, passed on Sanders with the 21st overall pick, things started to get a little hairer.
But wait, the Giants traded back in to the first round, acquiring the 25th overall pick from the Houston Texans! Surely this was to select Sanders, the quarterback that general manager Joe Schoen had done extensive research on, with multiple trips to Boulder, Colorado over the course of the last college football season.
However the pick wasn’t Sanders: it was Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. There goes months of study on Sanders (and Hunter) who the Giants originally figured they’d be picking between while they were on a trajectory for a top pick. With that, natural landing spots in the first round all but dried up, and Sanders ended the opening night of the NFL draft without a team.
Some fans and media pundits were quick to call this slide a personal slight at Sanders, but these kind of Draft Day free falls have happened before: Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, and many more successful quarterbacks in the NFL all underperformed on draft day.
The Cleveland Browns held two of the first four picks in the second round, and the Saints, Raiders, New York Jets, and Indianapolis Colts all had upcoming picks as well.
Cleveland went a different direction, going linebacker and running back with their two early picks.
Then the Saints really shook things up: they didn’t decide they don’t need a rookie quarterback, they just went with a different one, like the Giants did. New Orleans selected Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the 40th overall pick. Four quarterbacks off the board now. Sanders was not one of them.
The second round continued, with whispers of Sanders name at every junction. But teams stacked up at other positions, continuing the slide for the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback.
The second round ended without Sanders name being called. But the Browns were up to bat again: at both the top of the fourth round and near the bottom.
The Browns went tight end at the top of the round, and later in the round, the Seattle Seahawks drafted perhaps the most perplexing quarterback yet: Alabama QB Jalen Milroe. While Milroe was highly successful in college, his NFL prospects were never considered to be higher than Sanders’.
Neither were the prospects of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who the Browns selected with the 90th overall pick. Oregon quarterbacks have had a great track record in the NFL recently: think Justin Herbert and Bo Nix. But Gabriel is a late-round project, while Sanders was a top overall prospect.
At this point, the question shifted from “are teams intentionally passing on Sanders” to “why are teams intentionally passing on Sanders?”
The third round, and therefore the second day, of the 2025 NFL Draft ended once again without Sanders’ name being called. Five quarterbacks came off the board so far: Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe, and Dillon Gabriel.
The fourth round came and went as well, adding even more sweat to the situation, before a team finally pulled the trigger.
The Browns selected Sanders with the 144th pick in the draft, the sixth pick in the fifth round. Sanders was the second quarterback selected by the Browns, after Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Drafting two quarterbacks in the same class isn’t unheard of (think Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins back in the same Washington Redskins 2012 class). It gives Cleveland the opportunity to attempt and develop each quarterback, and see who fits their system better.
Sanders and Gabriel ended a crowded situation in Cleveland: Deshaun Watson and his mega contract usually command the QB1 position, but Watson will likely be dealing with last year’s season-ending injury for months to come. The Browns also be ready to move on from Watson: even if they’re stuck with his contract.
Still, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are on the roster as well: making Sanders the fifth quarterback on the team. In that context, it’s easy to see why Cleveland didn’t want to spend a first or second round pick on Sanders.
Instead, Cleveland gets incredible value, landing a widely-heralded first round talent in the fifth round of the draft.
The journey isn’t over for Shedeur Sanders, who will spend training camp fighting for his spot on the depth chart and maybe even his spot on the team. But for now, the talks can finally rest: Shedeur Sanders did get drafted, and Hall of Fame father Deion Sanders has officially entered his son in to the world’s highest level of professional football.
Header Photo Credit: College Sports Network
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