The slide finally stops here. The Browns have traded up with the Eagles to select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders at No. 144 overall. In exchange for the pick that lands the Buffaloes passer, Philadelphia collects pick Nos. 166 and 192. 
[RELATED: Prospect Profile: Shedeur Sanders]
The Browns had acquired pick No. 166, a fifth-rounder, from the Texans, who in turn had received it from Buffalo in the Stefon Diggs trade. The 192nd pick was sent to Cleveland by the Bears in exchange for defensive tackle Chris Williams, and they had received it originally from Miami in exchange for Chase Claypool.
Sanders has weathered one of the least-anticipated Draft Day slides in NFL history. At one point projected to be in competition with Cam Ward for the No. 1 overall pick, Sanders slowly saw his draft stock begin to fall throughout the pre-draft process. As scouts and analysts really dove into the 23-year-old’s tape, it became apparent that he wasn’t the top quarterback in the class and that he perhaps was not second-best. As it turns out, he is the sixth passer to come off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, 144 picks into the event and six picks into the fifth-round. Some have attributed a perceived lack of maturity and the resulting attitude as a factor that drove down Sanders’ stock, in addition to a questionable skillset.
As to why the Browns chose to select him after this historic slide, Zac Jackson of The Athletic provided a quote from general manager Andrew Berry. Berry told the media that he couldn’t “speak to why the market priced him the way it did,” saying, “We had our own internal evaluation…once it got to a price we felt was a pretty steep discount, it just made sense.”
Now that he’s headed to Cleveland, Sanders’ slide is strictly a thing of the past. Nobody will care where he got drafted if he can make a serious impact for the Browns. His competition begins with fellow rookie, and third-round selection out of Oregon, Dillon Gabriel. You don’t have to look back too far to find the last team to draft two quarterbacks in the same draft, as the Patriots did so last year with Drake Maye and Joe Milton. The Browns are the first team in the common draft era, though, to take two quarterbacks (Gabriel and Sanders) and two running backs (Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins and Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson) in the first five rounds of a single draft.
The Browns now have five quarterbacks on their roster competing for, maybe, three spots. Expected starter Deshaun Watson suffered a second tear of his Achilles tendon in January and could be unavailable for the entire 2025 NFL season. Cleveland acquired two former starters and recent backups this offseason, signing veteran Joe Flacco and trading for 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, and now Gabriel and Sanders join the fold. Flacco obviously has experience with the current staff after his 2023 campaign with the team, after which he won Comeback Player of the Year. Pickett has shown value as he’s been traded around since being drafted by the Steelers three years ago, but after failing to establish himself as a starter, he seems destined to work as an experienced backup.
There are a couple of ways the roster could play out in Cleveland. If Watson is healthy enough to play, we’ll likely see Flacco and Pickett as the prime competitors for the starting job, with the loser of the battle likely taking on QB2 duties. If Pickett wins the starting gig, Flacco would surely outrank both Gabriel and Sanders as the primary backup. If Flacco wins, though, I could see Gabriel and Sanders being given an opportunity to supplant Pickett for the primary role. Should one of the rookies do so, expect Pickett to be up for his third trade within the course of his rookie contract.
If Pickett can secure the QB2 role (behind Flacco), though, the battle between Gabriel and Sanders becomes critical for roster spots, and given his draft position, it appears the staff already has a slight preference towards Gabriel. With Watson presumably on an injured list, the Browns could opt to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, allowing them to retain the loser of the QB3-battle on the practice squad. If they decide to only keep two quarterbacks on the roster, though, provided Pickett does not get traded, Gabriel and Sanders could see themselves struggling to make the team as a rookie.
Was kinda hoping he would have to go to the ufl or something
It happened
LOL why
such a browns move
waste a pick on Gabriel and take Sanders later
Cleveland just keeps on Clevelanding.
Yep. Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, and now Sanders. Sure, it’s a lottery ticket given that 5th rounders are a crapshoot anyway, but strange pick.
agreed, i figured someone would take a chance on him and maybe win big, but there are only so many snaps in practice, not sure how a team keeps 2 rookies around and develops both of them
Still time to sign AR or trade for Kirk..lol
Whole team of qbs.
That would be hilarious. A justice league of QBs lmao
Normally a justice league of quarterbacks turn into a legion of doom in Cleveland
The Justice League … wasn’t that a great movie?
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the best comic book movie of all time. however, the Browns are more like the version Joss Whedon and the moron studio heads released
Cant tell if youre serious or not marshmallow haha.
i’m curious who you would consider to be the Solomon Grundy and Captain Cold of the browns
😂😂😂
Since this was a “screw the Steelers” pick, maybe the Browns can add Trubisky into the QB room. I hear Duck Hodges is available these days. Surely, one of those guys can pan out to show up the Steelers
Duck is living the high life with Lainey Wilson..
I’m an Oregon fan…but Gabriel is so far below Sanders there’s almost 0 chance of him staying on the team if they keep all the other guys around. Complete wasted pick and the question is why draft him in the third round if you are eventually going to draft Sanders when Sanders is so much better? Just take Sanders in the third round or another position and not waste a pic on a guy who now is more likely not even to make the team
Exactly. Dillon is a pure backup profile great for the team QB room etc. Sanders is accurate at all levels, reads Defenses well and takes the tough hits witb eyes downfield sometimes too much. It is weird to take Dillon over Sanders, but Browns draft has been really good (Im a Raiders fan that wanted Pete & Spytek to take Sheduer def 3rd or later value) and they have extra 1st for 2026. But yeah they could have had Hunter & Shedeur like many mocks had pre draft.
Not sure what film you watch on Sanders, but saying he was “accurate at all levels” is laughable. 73% of his throws were either behind the line of scrimmage or within 5 yards of it. That helps his completion percentage. He would regularly hold the ball so long and take unnecessary sacks rather than throw the ball away to keep his completion percentage up. There were many throws where he would miss an open receiver by 10 yards.
However when he did throw the ball while in trouble he would loft it downfield and Travis Hunter would bail him out. Many of his long high arcing throws, even the ones ESPN was showing as a highlight, in the NFL those are interceptions.
He regularly runs back in a collapsing pocket rather than stepping up which causes him to be sacked and lose massive amounts of yardage.
I could go on, but you can’t just look at umbers and say he was good, you need to watch the games and see how he’s accumulating those numbers.
The scouts and teams obviously saw somethings they didn’t like or thought would translate to the NFL. Only time will tell.
I have only seen a few of Gabriel’s games but is he that much different than Tua in playing style?
Browns trying to run it back with Johnny Manziel 2.0
Or perhaps they’ve found DeShone Kizer 2.0 🙂
Or Brandon Weeden 2.0
Or Tim Couch 2.0
Johnny Manziel liked to party all the time. Shadeur Sanders, too?
Gabriel isn’t a wasted pick. Sanders fell into their laps, had to make the trade n pick. Cleveland has and might now carry 4 QB’s on their 53 man. Rules don’t prohibit it. And with all the injuries to Watson, he’s a non factor. Pickett, Flacco, Gabriel and Sanders…pretty good QB room you ask me….
It actually does make some sense and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Browns carry 4 QBs on the 53 with Watson on the IR. I think the Browns carry some insurance on Watson’s contract. Also both Flacco and Pickett have one year remaining on the contract. They will be gone the following season and the Browns will be cap-strapped or have a lot of dead money depending upon what they ultimately decide to do with Watson. So, it makes sense to have a couple options on four-year rookie deals.
They just have blindfolded monkey throwing darts in that front office.
Cohesive plan coming together.
Bruh why lmao😂😂😂
LMAO
Extremely low cost gamble with starting quarterback upside when they have an extra first next year. It’s weird, but why not? It’s also the rare place you can’t call him the biggest distraction among a team’s quarterbacks.
Having two rookie QBs as a hedge bet against each other isn’t a bad idea, but also having Flacco and Pickett is a weird move. Maybe they try to move Pickett? Won’t get much, if anything, but having four QBs (plus Watson, but he really doesn’t count at this point) seems untenable. Tough to evaluate Gabriel and Sanders if you’re giving Pickett practice snaps.
Browns aren’t making the playoffs, so why keep 40-year-old Flacco around? The only way it makes sense is if one of the rookies wins the starting job and Pickett leaves. Then Flacco is the backup who doesn’t need practice time.
Flacco is a fan favorite, who can sling it with protection. Will the receivers make plays for him this year? Can the defense play more like 2023?
As a Browns fan, we traded for Pickett because he’s a Stefanski style of QB and they really like him. DON’T discount what he could do in that system. They really like Gabriel and Sanders and one of those 2 could become our franchise QB who knows. As for Flacco, we needed a backup for Pickett and Flacco made sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if we carry all 4 to begin the season and if one of our rookies step up then I could see Flacco traded well before Pickett. As for Watson , he will NEVER play for Cleveland or any other NFL team again..hes toast
Also he can claim a team traded up to get him !
Hedge your bets…maybe one might at least work out for them…
They’re going to line up with 2 QBs behind center, and defenses have to figure out which one has the ball.
Hahaha
Ones a lefty ones a right I smell new offense
Sanders takes the snap he throws it behind to Gabriel Gabriel back to sanders to Tillman incomplete
Gabriel takes the snap backwards to sanders back to Gabriel back to sanders caught for 3 yards by Jeudy
If he can actually turn the Browns around no one will talk bad about him. That has been one of the most down bad franchises in all of sports. Cleveland could have had him and Hunter though.
He won’t. The end.
Oh you got a DeLorean Time Machine that knows the future of the yearly crapshoot that is the NFL Draft especially for QBs? Yeah I though not!
No, he doesn’t, however he has a machine called the Google machine. And using said machine will show you that Cleveland has and will continue to do the same stupid things over and over and over.
The bigger question is….can they top this? And the answers is inevitably….oh hell yes. They’re here for our humor. Enjoy it and be thankful it’s not your team.
Watson, Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders.
So they tell Watson to just stay home until his contract is done, they start Flacco, they pray for an injury on another team to retrade Pickett, and they let Gabriel and Sanders fight for relieving Flacco when he gets winded.
Watson is automatically out this season since he re-tore the Achilles after surgery so another surgery was needed.
I think Pickett is basically getting cut.
Kenny 2 Gloves could end up back in Pittsburgh for nothing.
The most overhyped player in the Draft starts his NFL career in the Factory of Sadness.
Umm no, that would be 1st Round Pick Money Fingers Manziel and his white priviliged clown show of the exact same INFLUENCER hype (with way more actual off field stuff like drugs & DUI stuff) than clean as a whistle Shedeur who even HC Sean Payton said is a really great QB & person and all the falling is gonna just motivate Sanders more for the weak QB Room teams that passed on him like Saints & Steelers. Shoot John Elway, Eli Manning got praised for telling Team Owners they want to choose where they go, now in the era of Paul Brothers Circus’ Of Attention, I hardly compare what the PrimeTime Brand of HoF Deion, Jackson State, UofColorado Hunter & Shedeur stories as some albatross to not take a solid QB prospect like Sanders earlier. Double Standard much WWNFL good ol’ boy coaching/GM network??
Both Eli and Elway were clowned, mislabeled and questioned at the time, and were also talented enough to be drafted first overall. When Sanders wins a Super Bowl as a starting QB you can start to make that comparison.
I don’t recall Elway or Eli disparaging the other men sacrificing their bodies on the offensive line.
And you can believe whatever mantra you want, follow any creed, and live in your own morality bubble as long as you wish while pointing fingers and shouting at everyone who doesn’t comply with your personal feelings…. But if you looked even slightly into Eli’s draft decision, I believe you would find his reasoning much more in line with the moral compass you display above, rather than any of the “privileged golden boy” nonsense you’re spouting off about.
Woah. That’s a lot of words.
Not sure what was the bigger waste… the pick or the time used to write that post
Both. If you have to write a War and Peace length comment on Pro Football Rumors, you already lost the argument (cause no one is ever going to read it).
Multiple paragraphs….multiple capitalizations…..hit political AND racial points aimed at whitey…dudes in mid season form.
How much coc aine did it take to write all that?
Go touch grass bro. You made this way more political than it needs to be.
And while I agree the US has some issues, I don’t think this is the space for it.
@Shory, “White Privilege”? Give it a rest.
Wow! I like Sanders but why draft Gabriel then Sanders? Our draft was pretty solid. Makes me wonder if we draft QB next year with that extra 1st….Wow
The trade was with Seattle, not Philly.
Wonder if there’s a trade in the works involving him?
Who would trade for a guy they all passed on numerous times?
Spaghetti on the wall, dude. Chill out.
He and the Browns deserve each other. Good riddance
Did they rly need to trade up ?
No excuse for coaching staff and fans.
There ya go! Sanders is a Brown! Browns trade up with Seattle even with Oregon’s Dillon taken yesterday, Eagles were gonna take Shedeur next methinks because Eagles & Ravens always heist the Draft Talent Pool yearly lol…great value and possible Browns starting QB IMO as Gabriel profiles as NFL Backup to me – accurate at all three levels, tough in the pocket, tons of play experience, wish Pete Carroll for my Raiders took the chance on Sheduer with one the 2nd of their two 4ths today.
Cleveland, where careers go to die. Thankfully his career is already dead.
Nah. All the negativity slide has nothing to do with if he can play QB in College or NFL. Sanders is a better prospect than that 100% overhyped and actual off-field mess Johnny Manziel the Browns took 10 years ago, Shedeur is equal to One Read Jaxon Dart, Old Fart Injury Prone Shough and needs TONS of passing accuracy work Jalen Milroe.
With only Season Starter Vet Flacco, bust Pickett, soon to be jettisoned Watson, and backup profile Gabriel, Shedeur can show his worth and win the starting job sooner or later in this scenario with Stefanski coaching him up and designing an offense that fits his strengths – accuracy, defense reads, toughness in the pocket.
Sanders is a mega value 5th round pick that is a 2nd round grade especially for the all important QB position.
All this glazing, only to say you whisper in your poster you have of shadeur’s ear. I see you forgot to put in that 150 of his passes this season were screens. Or the fact that he makes any type of true playmaking ability. Or the fact that he retreats backwards under pressure, holds onto the ball for too long, and is not mobile. Or the fact that his ceiling is a low end baker. You keep mentioning Manziel as well, he won a Heisman and played better competition. Plus team’s don’t want divas like that anymore, they’re a distraction. So by constantly mentioning him, all that shows is teams won’t deal with that anymore. It’s quite clear you’ve never played real sports, no one wants a cancer in the locker room. But it’s okay pal, I’m sure you’ll say it’s about race right? Wipe that glaze off your upper lip, you’ll be okay, and shader still won’t reply back to your DM’s.
Mr. Irrelevant would have been perfect!
My grandfather once told me when I went for my first job interview, remember your first interview is the first and last impression they will remember when it comes to hiring you. Sounds like from the reports I’m hearing he has the physical talents but the impression he is leaving after the front office interviews were to say pretty bad. I know that 5th round players drafted don’t get the contract perks a first-round draftee gets, usually they get a one plus team option for a second year, nothing guarantees on the contract. His NIL probably would pay more than his first NFL deal. If this don’t humble this guy nothing will.
Some guys are just terrible at doing interviews- it happens. On the field is where it counts, in actual games.
Except in this case, where the QB’s dad likely won’t be able to shut up about his son’s position on the team and the coach will be looking over his shoulder wondering if Deon wants his job next year.
The way Cleveland fumbles quarterback choices, Sanders is doomed there. But at least Trump will be at their games with daddy Deion.
Here is an analogy of what the Browns just did.
They had a chance to buy a $100,000 Ferrari for $80,000 and instead decided to buy a beat up, jacked up Honda Accord for $80,000.
Later, they took out a loan and decided to buy that Lamborghini for $80,000, knowing that they can only drive one of the cars. So in short, they paid double
Terrible take. They got a car that at auction had a $100k reserve but the owner pulled the reserve and they were able to snag it for $20k. The value between a 5th and top 10 pick is miles apart from $100k and $80k
John Madden said if you have 2 quarterbacks, you have none. Imagine the look on his face now with 5 in CLE lol
What is wrong with taking a stab here at a QB once a possible number one pick last year? These are the rounds you pick on upside and go in knowing you’ll need to work on some things. They got him in a spot where there are no sure things. Good opportunity in Cleveland to so he can develop but no cemented number one to be stuck behind
Except they took a guy ahead of him, demonstrating that his value wasn’t a third-rounder. Now he’s near the bottom of the roster of this 5 QB circus…
I kinda feel bad for him. Won’t be rooting for him as a Steelers fan but I don’t want anyone piled on like that. I would’ve been okay with the Steelers going for him in the 5th
Weird that they could’ve had both Hunter and Sanders, but the Brownies and played both well, despite wasting a 3rd for Gabriel who doesn’t have the ceiling Sanders does.
So when they announce their draft class this year is Sanders going to show up in his Rolls with his “Dig Me” chunk of metal around his neck and wear his hat sideways like Slappy and the Home Boys? It’s all about the Bling with him…supposed 1 rd. pick that drops like a stone to the 5th round…must have been all those first impressions that sunk him or it could have been “Helicopter Dad” Deion…hope he changes his attitude and realizes he is NOT bigger than the NFL
What a crappy thing to do to both these young QBs. You dont draft Gabriel in the 3rd you take Sanders.
Browns stockpiling picks so they can eventually waste them….
Think Garrett still is saying it was never about the money?
Actually it makes perfect sense.
Sanders is supposedly the upside guy. Gabriel is the guy you KNOW is NFL ready and will be able to step into the backup job right away. Sanders has to beat him in order to make the team out of training camp, which means they’ve insured themselves with a safer QB pick in case Sanders doesn’t work out.
He must have pulled a Stepbrothers interview in a tuxedo to go out of favor this much. Dude led all of college football in completion percentage and yards last season and would’ve declared last season if the draft wasn’t so QB rich.
Maybe he is hiding an injury? I’m completely baffled as to why such a stud would slide so far down. I’m sure at least half the players drafted so far are as “immature” as he is. “Maturity”? So dumb. This is football not medical school.
There was a report that during his interview with NYG and Daboll, he couldn’t answer questions about packages and got upset when Daboll pressed him on it. Whether or not that’s true is unknown, but something definately happened and word spread around the league like wildfire not to pick him.
Yeah but how many have high profile dads that will likely start questioning the FO moves?
Like it or not, Deion always has an opinion and no problem voicing it. Combine that with a question of was Sanders was really playing just because of his dad or is he that good?
Also, like others are reporting, if most of his stats was due to screens, then again that does not work in this league.
That’s a bunch of red flags. Hey, he may be awesome and the rest of the league will slap their foreheads, but I do not see that happening (especially in a place like Cleveland which just has all sorts of offensive issues, though one will likely be gone when they move on from Watson)
Remember OBJs dad called out CLE FO when Baker Mayfield wasn’t throwing him the ball. Let’s gets some popcorn and enjoy the show!
I think Sanders will be released by the end of camp. Too many QB’s on the roster and he’s the low man on the totem pole.
He also the cheapest man on the totem pole. Good reason to keep him around.
No doubt the owner stepped in. Deion fanboy.
Just as Jimmy Haslam calls on the Ohio state legislature to swindle taxpayers’ money for a blinged-up sportsball palace on the suburban site of a former Ford assembly plant.
Too much of NFL media was unwilling to tell the emporer’s kid he had no clothes.
Either because they know him, worked with him, like him or just anticipate having to deal with him in the future. A lot of the NFL Network guys probably know Shedeur personally from when he was younger.
But ignore everything and look at his tape and forget the hype, his best comp was Tyrod Taylor/Teddy Bridgewater.
The video he released after round one was very telling.
In the same breath he essentially said it was all part of Gods plan and “we all know it shouldnt have happened” which came off poorly.
The Brownsiest thing possible.
The lil monkey got what he deserved
There it is. Grats
I actually hope Sanders doesnt report. Its the Browns. Dare them to release his rights or go back to college and work on his pocket awareness and footwork.
Do they still retain his rights if he goes back to school?
I don’t think so, the NIL program changed alot of rules. He’d probably make more $$ from NIL next year than over his 5 year NFL contract as a 5th round pick.
Deion said he’d go top 5.
The contract for a number 5 draft pick (which is where Cleveland drafted after the trade with the Jags) is $40.8M with a $26.3M signing bonus. Going at #144 (5th Round, 6th pick) the contract is $4.6M with a $447K signing bonus.
So yes, he could likely make more in NIL going back to Colorado, though that would require swallowing a lot of ego.
If he goes back to college, it shouldn’t be to Colorado. He should play for a program not associated with his father. Show that he can be coached by someone else and throw more deeper passes.
This was another famous Jimmy Haslem choice, right there with Quinn, Manzel, Watson, etc. If you look at Berry and Kevin Stafanski’s faces when the Sanders pick is announced, it is clear they are not happy that the circus is coming to town.
If I hear one more time that the NFL is racist because a mediocre college QB with a pretentious, self-absorbed father who’s going to be a pain in the ass of whoever his son plays for, I’m going to lose it.
It’s amazing how people can convince themselves that a child born with a silver spoon in their mouth and a Gucci bib on their neck is an unprivileged victim.