Shedeur Sanders Ends Draft Slide, Selected by Browns in 5th Round
After an unexpectedly long wait, Shedeur Sanders finally heard his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft — and he made sure to celebrate in style.
The Cleveland Browns selected the Colorado quarterback with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round on Saturday, a surprising fall for one of the draft’s most recognizable names. Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was widely projected as an early-round pick after a standout college career, but he kept his spirits high throughout the emotional rollercoaster.
In true Sanders fashion, he danced and leapt into a swimming pool at his family’s Texas home when the call finally came. His brother Shilo live-streamed the celebration on Twitch, while the NFL shared a clip on X capturing the moment.
“You can’t be too low when things don’t go your way,” Sanders said. “You’ve got to celebrate the wins — and then it’s back to work.”
Most pre-draft rankings had Sanders pegged as one of the top quarterbacks available, trailing only Miami’s Cam Ward, who went first overall to the Titans. Instead, five quarterbacks were taken ahead of him — including Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, whom the Browns picked in the third round.
Despite already selecting Gabriel, Cleveland couldn’t pass up Sanders when he was still available in the fifth. General manager Andrew Berry said the Browns stuck to their strategy of drafting the best player available, regardless of position. To land Sanders, Cleveland traded their fifth- and sixth-round picks to Seattle to move up to No. 144.
“It wasn’t the plan to take two quarterbacks,” Berry admitted. “But we didn’t expect Sanders to still be there.”
Sanders’ draft-day experience joins a long list of NFL stars who waited longer than expected. Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, and Will Levis all slipped on draft day before proving their worth — a blueprint Sanders is determined to follow.
“I just have to prove what I’m capable of,” he said. “What fuels me is my purpose and understanding that I was given an opportunity when others wouldn’t.”
At Colorado, Sanders threw for a school-record 4,134 yards and finished eighth in the Heisman voting last season. Yet questions about his arm strength, durability — he was sacked 94 times over two seasons — and concerns over how he would perform without his father’s coaching may have contributed to his fall.
There was also speculation that Deion Sanders’ outspoken personality might deter teams worried about potential interference, drawing comparisons to Eli Manning’s famous 2004 draft saga.
But Shedeur remains focused on the opportunity ahead, not the circumstances that led him there.
“After the first two rounds, it was clear: all we needed was a chance,” he said.
Sanders now joins a loaded quarterback group in Cleveland. With Deshaun Watson expected to miss the season recovering from an Achilles injury, the Browns have Kenny Pickett, veteran Joe Flacco, and rookie Dillon Gabriel already in the mix.
“I know I’ll fit in perfectly,” Sanders said. “It’s about showing respect to the vets, putting in the work, and letting people see who I really am.”
Interestingly, Cleveland becomes the first team since 2012 to draft two quarterbacks in the first five rounds — Washington famously did it then with Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins.
Elsewhere on Saturday, several other notable names found NFL homes:
- Cam Skattebo, who helped Arizona State reach the College Football Playoff, went to the New York Giants in the fourth round.
- Dylan Sampson, the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year, joined Sanders in Cleveland later in the fourth round.
- Kyle McCord of Syracuse, who set the ACC single-season passing record, was picked by Philadelphia in the sixth round.
- Two quarterbacks from the last CFP title game — Will Howard (Ohio State) and Riley Leonard (Notre Dame) — went in the sixth round to Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, respectively.
- Quinn Ewers of Texas was drafted by Miami in the seventh.
Ohio State, fresh off a national championship, saw 14 players drafted — just one shy of Georgia’s seven-round draft record of 15 set in 2022.
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