On Saturday, April 26, 2025, the Cleveland Browns selected Shedeur Sanders with the 144th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders, 23, follows previously selected field general standouts like Cam Ward (Tennessee Titans), Jaxson Dart (New York Giants), and Taylor Shough (New Orleans Saints), among others. In Cleveland, he will join a quarterback room that includes Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett.
Sanders was a decorated college quarterback in his four-year career at Jackson State and Colorado. Through four seasons, he threw for 14,327 yards and 134 touchdowns while completing 70.1% of his passes. Along the way, he won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Deacon Jones Trophy, the Jerry Rice Award, SWAC Offensive Player of the Year honors, and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Heading into the first round of the NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders was widely projected as a first-round pick. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com expected Sanders to be selected 21st by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Diante Lee and Danny Heifetz of The Ringer also expected Sanders to be chosen by the Steelers. ESPN’s Mel Kiper evaluated Shedeur Sanders as the best quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. As he continued to fall in the draft, on-air personalities, fans, insiders, and even coaches began to question why he was falling in the draft.
“It’s gotta be about more than football,” ESPN’s Booger McFarland said. “He’s the best pure passer you can draft. When you start to see developmental projects like Jalen Milroe and Dillon Gabriel – and nothing against those guys, but they’re not nearly the player that Shedeur Sanders is. When they go before him, the only thing you can say is that it’s more than football.”
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything,” Stephen A. Smith stated. “What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
As he enters the league, Sanders will have an opportunity to prove himself as an NFL quarterback and some are confident that he will. In fact, Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton
Shedeur Sanders will have to battle against several experienced quarterbacks to earn playing time this season. Joe Flacco won a Super Bowl with Baltimore Revanes during the 2012-2013 season. DeShaun Watson has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times and led the league in passing yards in 2020. Kenny Pickett has started 25 games in the league and looks to reinvent himself in Cleveland. However, each of the aforementioned quarterbacks has questions to answer heading into the season. Joe Flacco is 40 years old and finished with 11 turnovers in eight games last season for the Indianapolis Colts. In addition to re-rupturing his Achilles, DeShaun Watson finished with more turnovers than passing touchdowns last season. Meanwhile, Kenny Pickett will have the challenge of earning the trust of his third locker room in three years.
