The modern draft’s most stunning freefall has parked Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland, which circled back to the polarizing quarterback prospect via a fifth-round trade-up. That move prompted teams to ask the Browns about Dillon Gabriel, who became tied to Cleveland in Round 3.
Trading neither Gabriel or Sanders, the Browns have both backing up Joe Flacco after sending Kenny Pickett to the Raiders. Gabriel sits as the Browns’ backup, with Sanders in the third-string spot. This is certainly not what Sanders had in mind when he prepared his pre-draft plan, but he is squarely on the developmental track in an organization that will be closely tied to another QB investment come 2026.
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Before the Browns made a value-based play for Sanders at No. 144, the Ravens lurked as a team set to stop the ex-Colorado starter’s draft-weekend plunge. Baltimore was prepared to draft Sanders at No. 141, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports, but received word the QB was uninterested in joining a team with Lamar Jackson entrenched as the starter.
It appears Sanders’ camp informed the Ravens he did not want to be drafted by Baltimore, per Schefter. That led to the Ravens drafting Alabama A&M tackle Carson Vinson at 141. The Browns then traded up (via the Seahawks) for Sanders, who had once lingered as a potential first-round option for QB-needy Cleveland. A disastrous Sanders pre-draft process nixed that, but he did join a team without a long-term starter, whereas the Ravens will be a Jackson-centered team for many years to come.
Sanders would have also hit the developmental track in Baltimore, only with no real roadmap to a starting role with that franchise. Jackson, 28, has become one of the NFL’s best players. Replacing an injured Flacco midway through the 2018 season, Jackson never gave the job back and is almost definitely on his way to the Hall of Fame. His three first-team All-Pro nods trail only Peyton Manning (seven) and Aaron Rodgers (four) for post-merger QBs, and the Ravens remain a perennial Super Bowl contender because of their historically talented dual threat.
The Ravens signed Cooper Rush to a two-year, $6.2MM deal in March. Sanders had gone from a player expected to be at worst a second-round pick to one not exactly in position to be calling his shots by Round 5. But the Ravens appear to have agreed to avoid drafting a player who did not want to be part of a plan involving a QB2 ceiling. That may be Sanders’ NFL future anyway, but he did not voice known objections to landing in Cleveland, where a rare four-man quarterback competition ensued. Of course, Sanders did not exactly factor prominently into that battle.
Gabriel played ahead of Sanders throughout the Browns’ offseason, as rumors indicated teams viewed the latter as behind the curve in terms of football intel. Sanders is believed to have made strides, but he completed the rare jump — due to Pickett and Gabriel injuries — to preseason starter after not taking a first-team rep in 11-on-11 drills in training camp. Sanders showed flashes during his start against the Panthers, but the former Cam Ward rival (for the No. 1 overall pick) did not ultimately threaten Flacco for Cleveland’s starting gig.
Baltimore has cycled through a few backups during Jackson’s tenure, going from Robert Griffin III to Tyler Huntley to Josh Johnson. Jackson missed extended stretches of time in 2021 and ’22. Even had Sanders arrived in Baltimore, Rush would have almost certainly been the fill-in option.
Sanders having treated pre-draft meetings like recruitment rather than job interviews rubbed many teams the wrong way, and while it does not appear Baltimore was one of them (it is, however, worth wondering if the Ravens spent too much time on Sanders prep due to Jackson’s status), a Day 3 prospect informing a team he was uninterested adds another chapter to one of the stranger prospect odysseys in modern NFL history.
It seems almost certain for them to add a qb in the first round next year, same with the saints, are they drafting these guys in hope to deal them?
They’re incompetent but I don’t see that happening, you don’t spend a 3rd and a 5th just to turn around and take another guy in the 1st especially with the other holes they need to fill. Short of them getting the number 1 pick and there being a no doubt generational QB I just don’t see it happening unless Gabriel and Sanders both prove they’re not good.
I think if they think there’s a quarterback that good they absolutely would. It’s one reason to add a first rounder. If one of this year’s picks turns into a backup they like and one turns into nothing it’s fine.
As a Browns fan, they drafted Gabriel and Sanders because they liked both AND we needed QB’S….as for next season, if there is a franchise type QB available that they like, with one of the first rounders. Andrew Berry WILL draft one. As for Gabriel he’s a quality backup who isn’t going anywhere and Sanders is a developmental QB that’s certainly worth taking in the 5th round….as for holes? OL and DB can easily be drafted with one of those 1sts and we have 3 2nds next year …
Trevor L was supposed to be a ‘no doubt generational QB’. He sucks.
Forgetful of the fact that Jax play in the AFC South which any given team can poach?
Lamar is only 28 years old and they are a super bowl contender. Wasting a first round pick on a QB is the fastest way to ensure that Jackson won’t be back and you will be rebuilding.
they’re talking about the browns pretty clearly lol.
Where do these reports come from? As a Browns fan, I can tell you that Shedeur is a VERY humble young man. I do NOT see him telling ANY team, don’t draft me….sorry, I don’t believe it….
You really need to take the blinders off…
Blinders???? I think I know my Browns and Sanders better then you, as you’re probably not a Browns fan
I don’t think you have any special intel that should lead you to believe that you know Shedeur better than anyone else. Besides, if you’re a college football fan, you know more about Shedeur than any Browns fan does.
Traci probably relies on Mary Kay for all of her intel…so yeah, take the blinders off.
Once he fell to the 5th round, I totally find it believable Sanders told certain teams not to draft him. And it’s got nothing to do with him being humble or not, just that it would probably be a better situation for him at that point to be a UDFA and have more flexibility in finding a team that’s a better fit, plus some of the benefits in contract negotiations.
Though if the Baltimore reports are true, it does seem shortsighted not to jump on the opportunity of getting mentored by Lamar Jackson and a coaching staff that’s shown a willingness to adapt their offense to a particular QB’s skill set rather than try to force a QB into a specific system.
True, and there’s always a chance of injury and getting in there earlier than expected, with a chance to showcase and land somewhere else as QB1.
Traci – put the crack pipe down. Shedeur absolutely told teams not to draft him either by words or actions.
No wonder Sanders rubbed teams the wrong way. Telling a team not to draft you? This isnt an Eli Manning/John Elway situation, especially with the Ravens. Even if he sat behind Jackson, Jackson could get hurt at any time and Sanders should have wanted the opportunity when his turn came. Is he even doing the scout team in Cleveland?
A player wants some say in the city they move to and insight into the team that will control their football future, and team owners and FO hold it against them… now *that* is entitlement.
It says a lot about Sanders being a team player if he isn’t the focal point of the team.
He had a chance to learn from one of the best in the game, in order to go to Cleveland and still lost the starting job to a beat-up 41-year-old man on a team that went 3-14 last year. The Rams tape alone showed that he isn’t remotely ready to be an NFL starter. Heck, it questions whether he should be on an actual NFL roster.
Seems like a young man who still hasn’t learned humility.
Really disagree with your take billj-2.
Every single college player that gets drafted goes into their NFL career wanting to be a starter, and believing they can do it. Sanders is no different. That’s not a measure of humility or being a team player. It’s just wanting to play full time and contribute to the team and challenge themselves personally.
Now, if Sanders spends his year in Cleveland and doesn’t work hard at improving, doesn’t listen to coaches on ways to improve, doesn’t spend time watching tape, doesn’t find ways to contribute to the team effort when he’s not on the field, okay, then we can start talking in negative terms. But so much of the negativity I see directed at Shedeur seems like misdirected hostility towards his ass of a father, and I’m not a big fan of children being blamed for the sins of the parents.
I wish him all the luck. I just believe his career choices, to this point, haven’t been in his best interests.
Still bringing this crap up?
Shedeur is correct that he was never going to pass Lamar Jackson on the depth chart. Of course, he’s not going to pass Dillon Gabriel either. 🙂
By the 5th round, he should’ve been happy to have been drafted by anyone, instead of making demands.
I notified the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models that if my top 3 choices weren’t interested in dating me, I wouldn’t make myself available to any of them 🙂
I don’t think Sanders is as smart as he thinks he is.
Sanders’ camp very likely could have told the Ravens they were uninterested. By this time, he’s a 5th round pick, so why not communicate with clubs he wants to compete to start, and if no one drafts him, he becomes an UDFA and signs where he wants. Cleveland made sense to him in Rd 5, so go there and compete for the starting role. This isn’t an Eli or Elway situation. It’s a guy in Rd 5 trying to go to a team that at least gives him a chance to start versus riding the pine for 4 years.
Based on his film, both in college and preseason, he needed that time to grow into a pro QB.
It is like neither teams nor players pay attention to the playbook that Green Bay and their QB’s have had so much success with for three decades.
He isnt entitled to any starting position. He has to earn it or stay patient. He could have refused to report to Cleveland but didnt. Now he has to show he wants the job more than anything else. Will he do it?