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Browns end Sanders' slide, pick QB in 5th round

  • Daniel OyefusiApr 26, 2025, 02:21 PM ET

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      Daniel Oyefusi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he covered the Miami Dolphins for the Miami Herald, as well as the Baltimore Ravens for The Baltimore Sun.

The Cleveland Browns ended Shedeur Sanders’ surprising slide on Day 3 of the NFL draft Saturday, making him the second quarterback they selected this weekend.

The Browns traded up with the Seattle Seahawks to select Sanders with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round Saturday. Cleveland gave Seattle its 166th and 192nd picks.

After being selected, Sanders posted to X: “Thank you GOD.”

“I would say I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything,” Sanders said during a conference call with local reporters. “I don’t ever focus on the negative or even think about the negative because the positive happened so fast and it’s a change of emotions. For me, it was just playing quarterback. That’s what it’s about. You can’t be up, too low or anything. You got to be able to celebrate. And when we score a touchdown, we celebrate for a little bit. Now it’s back to time to work, it’s time to go.”

The Browns were linked to Sanders after spending extensive time with him throughout the draft process but ultimately passed on him multiple times. Cleveland traded back with the Jacksonville Jaguars from its No. 2 slot to No. 5, getting a trade package that included the 36th pick (which the team used on running back Quinshon Judkins) and a 2026 first-round pick. Cleveland selected defensive tackle Mason Graham with the fifth overall pick.

The Browns passed on Sanders again at the end of the third round, selecting quarterback Dillon Gabriel with the 94th pick. When asked why the team opted not to go with Sanders, general manager Andrew Berry on Friday night noted that there were four rounds remaining and that he remained impressed with Sanders. A team source said that despite the pick of Gabriel, Sanders remained on the team’s board.

Berry told reporters Saturday that as the team entered Day 3, there were discussions about possibly targeting Sanders if he continued to fall. Berry said there was an early run on some of the players that the team had targeted in the final rounds and as Sanders continued to be available, the decision to trade up for him came together quickly.

“We talk oftentimes about quarterback being the most important position in the sport,” Berry said. “We obviously spent a lot of time with Shedeur throughout the process. He’s highly accurate, can play well from the pocket, very productive college career. And we felt like it wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but we do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value. We didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round. So, we love adding competition to every position room and adding him to compete with guys that are already in there, we felt like that was the appropriate thing to do.”

Berry later said: “Once it got to a point where it felt like it was a pretty steep discount, we just felt like, especially relative to the alternative ways that we could use this selection, this made the most sense.”

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Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said earlier in the week that every player in the quarterback room will compete to be the starter. This offseason, the Browns acquired Follow the 2025 NFL draft

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During the predraft process, the Browns met with Sanders at the East-West Shrine Bowl and again at the NFL scouting combine. Cleveland also hosted Sanders on a visit and then a large contingent traveled to Boulder, Colorado, to have dinner with him and Hunter the night before their pro day workout.

“The people they were genuine. It was real cool,” Sanders said of his visit to the Browns’ facility in March. “So, I left that visit knowing that if that was the place for me, I would feel real comfortable with what they have in place.”

A four-year starter in college — Sanders spent his first two seasons at FCS Jackson State, playing for his father before transferring to Colorado to follow him — Sanders led the FBS with a 74% completion rate last season, and his 37 passing touchdowns were second most in the FBS. A second-team All-American selection, Sanders was named the 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation’s top upperclassman quarterback.

Sanders was the sixth quarterback to be taken in the draft, following Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe and Gabriel.

“The main thing I’m just proving,” Sanders said, “I’m just proving coach Stefanski and Mr. Berry that they’re right, that they’re right about picking me. That I’m a good decision, that I’m a good draft pick for them.”