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Daniel Oyefusi
BEREA, Ohio — Minutes earlier than the 144th total decide within the 2025 NFL draft is introduced Saturday in Inexperienced Bay, Wisconsin, Cleveland Browns basic supervisor Andrew Berry FaceTimes Shedeur Sanders — a name that lastly ends one of many extra stunning draft slides in latest reminiscence.
Sanders has exchanged his flashy apparel for a extra informal outfit. On Thursday night time, the glitzy opener of the three-day draft, he wore a black leather-based jacket and enormous diamond pendant — every carrying his signature emblem, a greenback signal with a superscript “2” — in anticipation of listening to his title referred to as within the first spherical throughout an extravagant watch occasion with household and pals again residence in Canton, Texas. Two days later and 5 rounds into the draft, Sanders wears a black cutoff T-shirt as he stands in his yard with household and a number of videographers. With a soccer tucked in his left arm and a telephone in his proper hand, Sanders solutions Berry’s name.
“Hey, I do know it has been an extended weekend,” says Berry, seated at a rectangle boardroom desk and flanked by coach Kevin Stefanski and different workforce staffers within the Browns’ dimly lit draft room. “We’ll take you off the board right here. All proper, brother?”
“Sure sir, let’s do it,” Sanders responds with a smile as he paces across the yard.
“Let’s get able to go to work and show all of the individuals who handed on you unsuitable,” Berry says later earlier than passing the telephone to Stefanski, who smiles as he speaks to Sanders.
The Browns had traded the Seattle Seahawks their 166th and 192nd picks to maneuver up within the fifth spherical and choose Sanders, a record-setting quarterback on the College of Colorado and the son of Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer Deion Sanders, marking the end result of one of the extremely scrutinized draft cycles for a prospect in latest reminiscence. It started in January with Sanders projected as a doable prime decide and ended with him because the sixth quarterback taken in what many analysts characterised as a weak class for the place.
Although he discovered an NFL residence, questions stay about Sanders’ sudden fall.
The Browns spent intensive time with Sanders in the course of the predraft course of, assembly him on the East-West Shrine Bowl and NFL scouting mix, in addition to internet hosting him on a top-30 go to and eating with him forward of his professional day exercise on April 4. Finally, their analysis wasn’t that of an elite prospect on their draft board, they usually decided he was not definitely worth the No. 2 decide they’d held within the lead-up to Day 1. However as groups continued to cross on Sanders into Day 3, Cleveland determined to take a late-round flier on a prospect Berry believed offered an excessive amount of worth to cross up at that time.
Sanders grew to become the Browns’ seventh and remaining decide within the 2025 draft, and their second quarterback taken, following the number of Dillon Gabriel — a former Oregon, Oklahoma and UCF standout — with the 94th choice.
Sanders arrives in Cleveland with a possibility to tell apart himself in a reworked quarterback room that has no clear starter. His competitors for taking part in time consists of 40-year-old Joe Flacco, 2022 first-round decide Kenny Pickett, Gabriel and 2024 starter Deshaun Watson, who is predicted to be sidelined for a good portion of the 2025 season due to an Achilles harm.
Regardless of Sanders being a fifth-round decide, Stefanski stated he’ll get a possibility to compete to be QB1 for a franchise that used 4 completely different passers final season and has began a league-high 40 completely different quarterbacks since returning to Cleveland in 1999.
“We felt prefer it bought to a degree the place he was most likely mispriced relative to the draft,” Berry stated Saturday. “Actually, the acquisition value was fairly gentle, and it is a man that we expect can outproduce his draft slot.”
AS THE PREDRAFT course of progressed, the probabilities of the Browns touchdown College of Miami quarterback Cam Ward, extensively thought to be the highest quarterback prospect, grew to become more and more slim.
All through the draft cycle, Berry stated he was open to doing no matter maximized the worth of the second decide which Cleveland held. However as Berry sat at a roundtable surrounded by Cleveland-area reporters in Palm Seashore, Florida, in late March, the usually tight-lipped government revealed that buying and selling up was not a practical final result.
“Candidly, I would not essentially see that as seemingly,” Berry stated.
As Tennessee homed in on Ward within the remaining weeks main as much as the draft, the Browns had been deep in commerce discussions with the Jacksonville Jaguars on pivoting from the No. 2 slot. Minutes after the draft bought began, and Tennessee formally chosen Ward, Cleveland despatched its decide to the Jaguars for a draft package deal that included the No. 5 decide and a 2026 first-rounder. The haul gave Cleveland two picks within the first spherical of the 2026 draft, which is projected to have a stronger quarterback class.
With the No. 5 decide, the Browns chosen former Michigan defensive deal with Mason Graham, a participant Berry referred to as “one of many premier linemen on this draft on both aspect of the ball.” Sanders was once more linked to Cleveland as a doable vacation spot because the workforce held 4 Day 2 picks and two within the first 4 picks of the second spherical. However with their remaining decide of Day 2, the Browns bypassed Sanders once more and chosen Gabriel at No. 94.
A workforce supply stated the Browns believed many groups had a Day 2 grade on Sanders — one other workforce supply described being shocked as Sanders fell into Day 3 — however acknowledged potential excessive picks slide to later rounds yearly, although not as publicized as his.
The true shock for draft watchers got here within the third spherical with the workforce’s number of Gabriel over Sanders. Gabriel, a six-year participant in school who was named Huge Ten Offensive Participant of the Yr, was seen as a doable Day 3 choice, in accordance with ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., however he was a participant Berry and Stefanski stated they coveted after a number of interactions with him in the course of the draft cycle.
Gabriel was in a bunch of prime prospects the workforce hosted on top-30 visits in early March. The cohort included Sanders, however Gabriel’s inclusion was not reported on the time — the workforce web site solely named Sanders, Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter — and went below the radar. Cleveland’s prime decision-makers additionally traveled to Eugene, Oregon, for a personal exercise with Gabriel and bought an up-close take a look at him in the course of the Senior Bowl, as a number of Cleveland coaches participated within the all-star occasion. Berry and Stefanski had been additionally in Cell, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl.
“We actually felt strongly about Dillon all through this course of,” Berry stated Friday night time. “You recognize, I believe he is a extremely sturdy, actually, actually good prospect. You recognize, that is to not say that we did not meet with different quarterbacks that we thought had been actually proficient gamers and good folks. However we felt strongly about Dillon. We predict he is a superb participant and felt like he was essentially the most applicable participant to choose for each.”
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Browns GM: We consider Shedeur Sanders will outproduce his draft slot
Browns basic supervisor Andrew Berry explains why Cleveland chosen Shedeur Sanders within the fifth spherical.
WHILE THE BROWNS held Gabriel in excessive regard, the decide solely additional underscored Sanders’ beautiful drop — and raised extra questions in regards to the causes behind it.
“I believe it is unfair for me to remark, I assume, perhaps on behalf of the business,” Berry stated final week when requested about Sanders. “All I can say is that this: The time that we spent with Shedeur and what he is completed all through his school profession is spectacular. He is a formidable younger man. He is a extremely good quarterback. Generally, match comes into play and I would additionally say this, there are 4 extra rounds of the draft. Lastly, it is much less about the place you get picked, and what you do after you get picked. That is actually an important factor.
“Attending to know him over the course of the spring, he has a ton of resolve, and I believe he’ll discover himself in a extremely great spot.”
That spot being Cleveland appeared unlikely after the Gabriel decide.
The way in which Sanders dealt with his predraft course of, together with interviews with groups, gained widespread consideration, with reviews surfacing that his interactions with sure groups didn’t go easily. Phrase had gotten out amongst some teaching and entrance workplace sources within the league that Sanders struggled with the New York Giants and presumably different groups throughout predraft visits and conferences.
Sanders accepted his invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl in late January however didn’t take part, selecting to fulfill solely with groups. He declined to throw on the NFL scouting mix in February, deciding to attend till his professional day exercise in Boulder, Colorado, on April 4.
“I did anticipate him to have a greater spring,” an AFC space scout advised ESPN. “I heard he had some tough interviews, and the professional day was common. Stunned however not shocked [Sanders fell to the fifth round].”
Nevertheless, one supply from one other workforce that was within the quarterback market had heard the Browns’ course of with Sanders went smoother than it did for others.
“We felt good with him as an individual,” Berry stated Saturday. “He works exhausting. He is a extremely good child. He needs to be nice. His teammates liked him in Colorado, and I do know he’ll are available right here able to work, able to try to put his finest foot ahead in all areas of competitors.”
In a convention name with Cleveland-area reporters after the decide, Sanders acknowledged he might have completed some issues in a different way in the course of the predraft course of. When requested if he thought his interactions throughout workforce interviews performed a task in dropping to Day 3, Sanders responded: “I believe what occurred was I had an incredible interview and nice course of with the Browns, and that is why they had been in a position to decide me. So something exterior the group is known as a nonfactor to me now as a result of that is the place my focus and that is the place my thoughts is: Simply doing every little thing I can to make the workforce higher. So every little thing exterior of that, the opinions do not actually matter.”
In accordance with one particular person within the Browns’ draft room, there wasn’t a spirited dialogue Friday night time or early Saturday about what to do with Sanders. The workforce already had accounted for the participant, his rating and every little thing that comes with drafting a prospect.
After choosing Sanders on Saturday, Berry advised reporters the workforce had been concentrating on him if he continued to fall on Day 3. A supply with data of Browns’ inner conversations stated Berry “labored exhausting to commerce up for him,” starting to make calls late within the fourth spherical, and referred to as the decide a “no-brainer.”
“We felt prefer it wasn’t essentially the plan going into the weekend to pick out two quarterbacks,” Berry advised reporters Saturday. “However as we speak about, we do consider in finest participant accessible, we do consider in positional worth, and we did not essentially anticipate him to be accessible within the fifth spherical. We love including competitors to each place room and including him to compete with the fellows which might be already in there. We felt like that was the suitable factor to do.”
Berry was additionally requested in regards to the position, if any, possession had within the choice. He shut down any notion that proprietor Jimmy Haslam, who previously had gained a popularity of being closely concerned in choices, pressured the decide.
Haslam, who was seated behind Stefanski and looking out onward because the room’s response to choosing Sanders was captured by dwell cameras, was a frequent attendee to professional days and visits with prime prospects. He was additionally half of a giant contingent of workforce coaches, execs and possession who traveled to Colorado’s professional day and had dinner with Sanders and Hunter forward of their exercise. The workforce stated possession assembly with gamers was regular for prospects seen as potential cornerstones.
“Jimmy lets us do our jobs,” Berry stated.
AS SANDERS FIELDED the fateful FaceTime name from Berry, the group surrounding him at his residence started to cheer. After a number of days of uncertainty, a large smile unfold throughout Sanders’ face as he fitted a Browns hat with an orange brim and “dawg” emblem on his head. Later, Deion Sanders FaceTimed Berry, with whom he constructed relationship all through the predraft course of, in accordance with a supply with data of their conversations. He’s additionally conversant in Browns quarterbacks coach Invoice Musgrave, who was a teammate and good good friend of his throughout their season along with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994.
By Tuesday, Shedeur Sanders had arrived in Ohio. Clips surfaced of him strolling by a Browns-themed health club in downtown Cleveland and later operating drills up a hill. On Wednesday, he shocked a bunch of student-athletes at John Marshall Excessive Faculty on town’s west aspect. He answered questions from the scholars and later posed for images and signed gadgets. Throughout his introductory convention name, Sanders spoke of eager to be concerned with the group in his new residence.
His NFL profession begins in earnest Could 9 when the Browns maintain a three-day rookie minicamp at their apply facility in Berea, Ohio. Regardless of all of the continued hypothesis concerning Sanders’ fall and eventual touchdown in Cleveland, he’ll quickly get an opportunity to place his disappointing draft slide behind him with a franchise starved for a steady quarterback state of affairs.
“What fuels me is my goal in life and understanding the route that we will should take,” Sanders stated. “Understanding that I used to be in a position to get a possibility when lots of people did not need to give me a possibility. So, that is what I am actually grateful for. That is what fuels me.”
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler contributed to this story.
