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.
