Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders' famous lineage reportedly worked against him during the 2025 NFL draft, causing his surprising fall to the fifth round.

According to The Athletic's Mike Jones, Sanders' Hall-of-Fame father Deion Sanders' influence created a negative perception about the 23-year-old's attitude.

"Sanders instilled in his son a strong sense of self-belief," Jones stated. "But because the Prime Time way borders on the extreme, Deion also passed onto Shedeur an off-putting air that NFL talent evaluators perceived as arrogance and entitlement."

There were reports throughout the pre-draft process that Shedeur Sanders rubbed teams the wrong way during interviews. Deion Sanders' comments, such as suggesting that he would strong-arm his son to the team he prefers, didn't help matters, either.

Still, the prevalent belief was that Shedeur Sanders would've been a first-round pick in this year's draft. His impressive numbers at Colorado showed that he has the potential to be a productive quarterback in the NFL.

It now appears that Sanders' gaudy stats weren't enough to convince teams to prioritize him on their draft board. Time will tell if he uses this situation as motivation to prove to the rest of the league that it was wrong to pass on him.

Many are still trying to figure out what caused quarterback Shedeur Sanders to fall to the Cleveland Browns as a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, but one insider offered some insight.

During Monday's episode of Get Up, ESPN's Dan Graziano revealed that he heard from multiple people that evaluators didn't feel comfortable disclosing their true opinions on Sanders during the lead-up to the draft, which caused the overblown projections of him being a potential first-round pick.

"Texting with a lot of people Saturday morning on the topic of why this is happening that he was still available, I had a couple of people say to me to the point about media, you guys weren't getting a complete picture," Graziano explained. "The theory was that people inside these buildings were kind of scared to give their honest opinion of him because of the potential for criticism, the potential of Deion, and everything that's around Shedeur, to kind of come down on them."

As the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Shedeur garners a ton of attention that could be distracting, but many felt that his stats at Colorado were impressive enough to make him a first-round pick. He ended up being the sixth quarterback off the board. The Browns even selected Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round before making the questionable decision to add him as a second rookie quarterback two rounds later.

Graziano added that teams seemed content to pass on Sanders because there was an expectation that another franchise would take the risk.

"So, I think we might've gotten some bad information in terms of how teams looked at him, but I think at some point Friday night into Saturday it started to snowball where teams are kind of sitting back and thinking, 'Well somebody else will probably take him,'" Graziano said.

Shedeur Sanders clearly has to overcome a lot of skepticism in the NFL after slipping to the fifth round of the 2025 draft, but the Cleveland Browns rookie can at least count on the support of a beloved fast food franchise.

Kentucky Fried Chicken cited its origin story and said "Sometimes all a Sanders needs is a little time to cook."

Harland Sanders first founded KFC in 1930, but it didn't become a full-fledged franchise until 1952. Whether Sanders was actually rejected 1,009 times isn't verified, but he clearly overcame some hurdles before finding commercial success.

Granted, Shedeur Sanders won't have 20 years to prove his doubters wrong in the NFL. And there are certainly plenty of them.

The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner was once considered a candidate to be a top-five pick before suffering the most precipitous draft fall in recent memory.

As a fifth-rounder, Sanders is probably fighting for the backup job at best in a quarterback room that includes Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.

Some quarterbacks who got selected on Day 3 of the draft have found success in the league. Tom Brady is the gold standard, having gone from a sixth-rounder to arguably the greatest at the position. Brock Purdy was "Mr. Irrelevant" as the last pick in the 2022 draft, while Dak Prescott was a fourth-rounder in 2016.

While the Browns have plenty of quarterback depth, none of their options stand out as the obvious starter. Maybe he won't be an immediate hit, but Sanders at least has a chance to make the most of his opportunity in Cleveland.

Shedeur Sanders was understandably relieved when he got the call and learned the Cleveland Browns were taking him in the 2025 NFL draft.

Deion Sanders Jr. documented the entire weekend for his Well Off Media channel. At the 34:30 mark of the video, Shedeur chats with Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry and then puts on a Browns hat. At one point, Deion Sanders asks to speak with Berry as well.

Shedeur's agonizing wait was made worse when he received a much different call.

The son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich admitted to impersonating New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and phoning Sanders.

The Falcons said in a statement they "do not condone this behavior and send our sincere apologies to Shedeur Sanders and his family." Jax Ulbrich also apologized, calling the prank "completely inexcusable, embarrassing and shameful."

For Sanders, the hard part now begins.

The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner was one of two quarterbacks picked by the Browns along with Oregon's Dillon Gabriel. They join a roster that already included Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, with Deshaun Watson recovering from a second Achilles tear.

Sanders was hopeful of being a first-round pick, and that would've meant being in the frame for a starting job. As a fifth-rounder, his short-term outlook is much different.

"Get there and handle my business, do what I have to do," he said in a conference call with reporters about his mindset heading into rookie minicamp. "Whatever role that is, I'm just thankful for the opportunity so that's all I can ask for. The rest is on me."

There isn't a more intriguing QB battle than the one that's brewing in Northeast Ohio.

How Shedeur Sanders handled predraft interviews with NFL teams became a major storyline as the quarterback continued to slide during the draft, and he addressed some of those rumors and reports during a Sunday conference call after the Cleveland Browns eventually selected him. 

"I think what happened is I had a great interview and a great process with the Browns, and that's why they were able to pick me," he said (14-minute mark). "So anything outside the organization is really a non-factor to me now because this is my focus and this is where my mind is, doing everything I can to make this team better."

He was also asked if he had any regrets with how he handled the process leading up to the draft.

"I feel like in life there are always ways I can improve," (10:45 mark). "There are different areas I'm able to improve. And some things I could have done at the time, that seemed right at the time, I could have gone about it a different way."

Sanders ended up falling to the fifth round, where the Browns chose him even though they had already selected Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel earlier in the draft.

The Colorado signal-caller became the story of the draft, and CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones (2:38 mark) reported that he heard Sanders "more or less sandbagged" interviews with teams he didn't want to go to during the draft:

Jones also noted the quarterback "did not give it his all" during some meetings, which "rubbed some teams the wrong way."

Elsewhere, NFL insider Josina Anderson reported a quarterbacks coach said Sanders came off as "brash" and "arrogant" during the interview, while NFL draft insider Todd McShay reported some teams around the league thought he didn't have a "professional approach" during the meetings.

Perhaps the interview process played a role in his fall. Perhaps it combined with a number of other factors, including concerns about his arm strength and anticipation as a thrower, the attention he would draw to a team as a possible backup, and the general thought that the 2025 quarterback class was a weak one.

The end result was the Browns adding him to a quarterback room that also features an injured Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Gabriel.

At least Sanders isn't walking into a loaded position group where he won't have a chance to compete for the starting job, which could be a silver lining for his fall.

Cleveland Browns draft pick Shedeur Sanders knows there will be few guarantees as he joins a crowded quarterback room.

In his conference call with reporters Saturday, Sanders kept it broad in terms of his expectations at rookie minicamp.

"Get there and handle my business, do what I have to do," he said. "Whatever role that is, I'm just thankful for the opportunity so that's all I can ask for. The rest is on me."

With Sanders falling all the way to the fifth round, the question is no longer whether he'll be a starting quarterback in Week 1. Instead, the focus is on his chances of being the second quarterback on the depth chart.

The Browns already had Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco before adding both Sanders and third-rounder Dillon Gabriel. Deshaun Watson, who's recovering from a second Achilles tear, is looming in the background as well.

For Sanders, the 2025 draft was a massive reality check.

A little over a year ago, Deion Sanders suggested his son and Colorado teammate Travis Hunter could engineer a move to a preferred team. As recently as last month, Shedeur looked like a top-five pick.

Now, the Buffaloes star is facing a much different journey in the pros.

As The Athletic's Jeff Howe explained, part of the reason for Sanders' unexpected drop was that his fame isn't something teams necessarily want in a backup quarterback. Plenty of fans will remember the spectacle surrounding Tim Tebow on the New York Jets in 2012.

"Quite frankly, while many teams absolutely place a priority on the backup quarterback position, it’s usually better when the player is more anonymous than not," Howe said. "The face of the franchise is, well, supposed to be the face of the franchise."

Cleveland's rookie minicamp will offer an early glimpse into how much the spotlight will continue to follow Sanders when he's not positioned as the savior of his franchise.

Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku and cornerback Denzel Ward are eager for new teammate Shedeur Sanders to silence his skeptics after the Colorado quarterback had a precipitous fall in the 2025 NFL draft.

Njoku and Ward both shared messages to Sanders on social media after the Browns picked him in the fifth round:

Sanders was pegged by some as a first-round prospect with the potential to slip into the second. He was the No. 23 overall player and second-best quarterback on Bleacher Report's final big board.

Nobody had the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award lasting all the way to the draft's third day. Cleveland even took another QB ahead of him, selecting Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round.

As The Athletic's Jeff Howe laid out, NFL teams simply didn't view Sanders as a special talent, and his sizable off-field profile was a consideration when looking at his suitability as a backup.

"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," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said of taking Sanders.

What made obvious sense for Cleveland may not work as well for Shedeur, though. He joins a crowded quarterback room, one in which he might struggle to get the practice reps necessary to stand out.

Granted, that was basically true with anywhere else he landed. No team expects a fifth-round pick to come in and immediately start.

If nothing else, it looks like Sanders has the support of the Browns' locker room as he prepares for his first offseason as an NFL player.

New Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders responded to the prank call that he received on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL draft.

"Of course I feel like it was a childish act, but everybody does childish things here and there," Sanders said, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

While the former Colorado signal-caller was waiting to hear his name called on Friday, he received a call from pranksters pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.

The Browns eventually traded up to select Sanders with the No. 144 overall pick in the draft on Saturday.

The 23-year-old was surprised that the caller was able to get his contact information, as he had only given it to NFL teams.

“Nobody has that number but coaches, strictly for that reason," Sanders said immediately after the call, via David Ubben of The Athletic. "Why get mad? They want you to have a certain type of reaction to it. They want you to feel bad."

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski called the situation "sad."

Sanders' slide in the draft was surprising, as he was the sixth quarterback off the board.

Entering Day 3, he was listed as the No. 1 overall prospect still available on the most recent big board from Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department.

B/R NFL Scout Dame Parson drew comparisons between Sanders and two-time Pro Bowl passer Geno Smith in his scouting report.

"Overall, Sanders' natural and pure passing abilities are the strength of his game," Parson wrote. "He is a high-floor prospect with a good ceiling to buy into. Sanders is best suited for a quick-passing offense, where he can play on time and on schedule."

Sanders wrapped up an impressive senior season with the Buffaloes in 2024, completing 74.0 percent of his throws for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns to go along with 10 interceptions.

He was the second signal-caller that the Browns selected in the 2025 draft after they picked up Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round on Friday.

Sanders will now look to stand out in a Cleveland quarterback group that also includes Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Deshaun Watson.

Shedeur Sanders dealt with plenty of outside noise over the last few days as he fell in the NFL Draft, but he expressed his gratitude after being selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round on Saturday.

"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity throughout everything," Sanders told reporters on a conference call. "I don't ever focus on a negative or even think about the negative because the positive happened so fast."

In the months leading up to the draft, Sanders was widely projected to be a first-round pick, and there were even debates about whether he should go first overall. Even after it became clear that the Tennessee Titans were going to draft Cam Ward with the first pick, Sanders getting picked up in the first round was still a realistic outcome.

Sanders ultimately experienced an unprecedented slide to the fifth round, which led to plenty of criticism and other noise on social media. He said he was unfazed by all the chatter over the past few days.

"Nothing really affected me the last couple of days," Sanders said. "I'm blessed. I know I have to clean up some things in my game. The main thing is proving (head coach Kevin) Stefanski and [general manager Andrew] Berry right about picking me."

Along with Sanders, the Browns' quarterback room features Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel, who Cleveland drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft.

While Sanders might not be the starter out of the gate like he could have been on another team, he has no question about the fit with the Browns.

"I know I'm going to fit in (with the Browns) perfectly," he said. "I'm here ready to work. The opportunity to see the real me and not stuff that might not be true."

Why Sanders fell so far in the draft will be a topic of conversation for the rest of the offseason, but there's no question he has NFL skill. He threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns in his final campaign at Colorado.

He'll now look to put on a show in Cleveland as he tries to help turn the Browns around.

The Cleveland Browns feel good about the value of fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders.

The Browns ended Sanders' infamous draft slide Saturday afternoon when they used the No. 144 pick on the Colorado signal-caller despite taking quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round.

When asked about the selection, Browns general manager Andrew Berry praised Sanders' accuracy and said the team did not expect him to be available as late as he was.

"The time that we spent with Shedeur and what he's done throughout his college career is impressive," Berry said, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. "He's an impressive young man. He's a really good quarterback. Sometimes fit comes into play."

Sanders was rated as the No. 23 overall player and the No. 2 quarterback in the draft class by Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department. His free-fall in the draft made him the sixth quarterback off the board.

He threw for 4,134 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for the Buffaloes in 2024. He had a completion rate of 74 percent and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

While his draft ride was rocky, he will now get an opportunity to compete against Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Gabriel for the starting role as the Browns look to rebound from a 3-14 season.