Shedeur Sanders is going to the Cleveland Browns. After waiting 143 picks to hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft, he finally got the call with the 144th selection early in the fifth round. Now, he'll join Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel in the Browns quarterback room as they try to sort out the position with Deshaun Watson's status in doubt for the season.
The fact that Sanders ultimately ended up with the Browns is undeniably shocking. While they were a reported suitor throughout the draft process, selecting Gabriel on Saturday seemed to put an end to that. Now, they set up a rookie quarterback battle behind a pair of veterans in Cleveland, which will be a fascinating subplot to watch this offseason.
Sanders' fall in the draft has little to do with his play and his value as a prospect. He's a high-floor prospect with a ton of talent and poise to deliver the ball and run the offense. It does seem, however, that his antics in interviews and off the field may have ultimately led to his decline.
But now he has an NFL home with the Browns — and perhaps a chip on his shoulder now too.
Browns select Shedeur Sanders, set up fascinating Cleveland QB battle
There was a chance that the Philadelphia Eagles and general manage Howie Roseman, an executive who has long valued adding to the quarterback room whenever possible, would've ended Sanders' draft slide with the 145th pick immediately after the Browns had Cleveland gone in another direction. But now, the Browns have a quarterback battle brewing that will be the talk of the preseason.
Even with some questions about the highest level of his arm strength, most evaluators considered Sanders a better prospect than the small-statured Gabriel, who came out of Oregon. However, Gabriel reportedly crushed the interview process while Sanders, pretty decisively at this point, did not.
However, the Browns are at a hinge point with Watson's torn Achilles, the potential to move on from him, and the overall state of the franchise at quarterback. Do they want to roll with the steady option in Flacco in 2025? What will Kenny Pickett have to say about the QB1 spot on the depth chart? And then we now have two accomplished rookies who are going to be duking it out for their time as well.
From Cleveland's perspective, I love this strategy. After general manager Andrew Berry loaded up on draft capital, he's now given himself as many bites at the apple to find a quarterback as possible — even better, they're all quite different types of apples. At a position of vast future uncertainty, they're leaving no stone unturned to find that answer.
Who knows if Shedeur Sanders will ultimately prove to be that answer. However, with the possible motivation resulting from his slip to the fifth round of the draft and his already-present talent, the Browns took a wholly worthwhile swing at this point in the draft to find out if Sanders can be their guy.