Eagle-eyed football fans spotted some curiously stoic faces in the Cleveland Browns war room after the team’s selection of Shedeur Sanders with the 144th overall pick of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
There were some customary self-congratulations in the form of light applause, but head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry looked like they had a ‘gun pointed at them,’ according to one person on X.
‘Why does this look like they were forced to draft Sanders?’ asked another following Shedeur’s confusing fall from a projected first-round pick to a mere fifth-round selection.
The confusion stems from the Browns’ decision to take two quarterbacks in this year’s draft: Sanders and former Oregon Ducks star Dillon Gabriel, the 94th overall draft pick. And given the team’s off-season additions 40-year-old Joe Flacco and 26-year-old Kenny Pickett, not to mention the specter of injured Deshaun Watson, Berry & Co. now have a pretty crowded quarterback room.
‘It wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks,’ Berry told reporters Saturday. ‘But you know we do believe in best player available and positional value. And you know we didn’t necessarily expect [Sanders] to be available in the fifth round.’
Of course, the Browns – like every other NFL team – spent the better part of the three-day draft passing over the son of Hall-of-Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. So Berry’s sudden enthusiasm to trade up in the fifth round to take Shedeur seemed inauthentic to some fans.
‘Blink twice if you need help, Cleveland Browns,’ one fan wrote on X.
Eagle-eyed football fans spotted some curiously stoic faces in the Cleveland Browns war room after the team’s selection of Shedeur Sanders with the 144th overall pick on Saturday
Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders speaks during a press conference at the scouting combine
Another accused owner Jimmy Haslam of forcing his front office to make this trade, thereby ending Shedeur’s three-day slide that has captivated everyone from everyday football fans to NFL analysts and even President Donald Trump.
‘Lol, this was a Jimmy Haslem (sic) pick,’ the fan wrote, misspelling the 71-year-old owner’s name. ‘None of those guys [in the front office] are happy.’
Many fans thought Berry’s reaction was understandable. Shedeur is a fifth-round pick, and while he was thought of as the best quarterback in the NFL Draft by ESPN guru Mel Kiper Jr., he did slide to 144 for a reason.
‘It’s a late round pick?’ one fan asked. ‘You expect everyone to jump for joy for 200 picks?’
But not everyone saw Berry’s non-reaction as being so innocent.
As one fan responded: ‘A genuine smile would have sufficed.’
Some believe team owner Jimmy Haslam may have pressured his front office to take Sanders
After suffering the most dramatic and catastrophic slide in the history of the NFL Draft, Colorado’s quarterback now knows his new home. The Browns traded up to the 144th pick to select Sanders in the fifth round on Saturday.
‘THANK YOU GOD,’ he posted on X, moments after the nightmare finally came to an end. The moment was recorded on Twitch, with Shedeur leaping into the arms of his brother, Shilo, before dancing around the room.
The quarterback had been left to watch at his home in Texas as he slid down the draft boards in the first round.
Despite being pegged as a top-3 pick, Sanders wasn’t chosen by anyone at all on Thursday and his misery continued during the second and third rounds.
Sanders was helpless again as he watched three other quarterbacks selected ahead of him on Friday. His wait finally ended just after 2pm on Saturday, when the Browns selected the ex-Colorado star with the sixth pick of the fifth round. That put an end to one of the most stunning sagas in the history of the NFL Draft.
Entering Friday night, many expected Sanders to be taken with the first pick of the second round by the Cleveland Browns. Instead, the Browns passed on him at picks 33 and 36.
Then, in a complete shock, the New Orleans Saints selected Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the 40th pick.
No other quarterbacks were taken in the rest of the second round, leaving draft analysts confounded by how far Sanders had fallen.
Then came the chaos of the third round. With the 28th pick of the round and the 92nd pick overall, the Seattle Seahawks chose Alabama’s Jalen Milroe in a stunner.
But then two picks later, in perhaps the most staggering development of the night, the Browns took a quarterback by selecting Gabriel, the Oregon gunslinger.
Gabriel had been projected by Kiper as the eighth best quarterback in the draft class – making this an absolutely mindboggling decision.
In the second round, the Saints picked Louisville’s Tyler Shough over an available Sanders
In the third round, Jalen Milroe (L) and Dillon Gabriel (R) were also selected over Sanders
Sanders was left to watch as he slipped down the draft boards on Thursday evening
Both Stefanski and Berry were dismissive of fans’ concerns when speaking with Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
‘I asked #Browns Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry about this clip,’ she wrote on X. ‘Stefanski said not to read into it and that the video doesn’t always time up with the actual making of the pick.’
Saturday’s stunning turn of events comes on the same day that Trump took some time away from his duties to post on social media about the quarterback’s dramatic tumble.
‘What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?’ Trump wrote in his latest Truth Social rant. ‘Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart!
‘Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness.
‘He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!’
Months ago, Sanders was believed to be a top-three pick because the teams with those first selections – the Tennessee Titans, Browns, and New York Giants – were all in need of quarterbacks.
But the Giants signed free agents Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in the offseason, mostly filling their needs at the position for this season.
The Titans were long sold on Miami quarterback Cam Ward, who they took first overall on Thursday night.
Then, the Browns decided to trade down in the draft – giving the Jacksonville Jaguars the second pick.
Jacksonville chose to draft Sanders’ teammate, Heisman winner Travis Hunter, second overall instead.
Rather than bulking up the QB position with Sanders, the Giants made a smart decision and took the best available player in the draft: Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter.
Donald Trump has delivered his verdict on the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft
The Browns, with the fifth pick they got from Jacksonville, also took a defensive lineman in Michigan product Mason Graham.
As the first round ticked on, it seemed that any chance for Sanders to be picked rested on the hope that a team would trade up to take him.
So when the Giants traded up to the 25th overall pick, many believed that this was their chance to select Sanders as their ‘quarterback of the future’.
The Giants did end up selecting a QB. But rather than Sanders, they chose Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss.
A dejected looking Sanders was seen slightly upset after that pick came through as his night didn’t go as expected.
That night, with friends and family surrounding him, Sanders addressed the disappointment.
The 23-year-old spoke to his loved ones about his snub, admitting ‘we all didn’t expect this, of course’.
But Sanders tried to remain upbeat, insisting he would be ‘happy’ regardless of what happens in the upcoming rounds of the draft.
‘I feel like with God, anything is possible, everything is possible,’ he said. ‘I feel like this happened for no reason – all this is is of course fuel to the fire and under no circumstance we all know this shouldn’t happen.
‘But we understand we’re on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow is the day, we’re going to be happy regardless, legendary.’
Sanders’ father, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, believes he warranted a top-five draft pick
All season long at Colorado, he showed off his prowess as a pocket passer, benefited from a great connection with Hunter and tossed for over 4,100 yards and for 37 touchdowns.
While his willingness to take contact in order to make plays is a sign that he’s good in uncomfortable situations in the pocket. When the pocket holds up, his accuracy and arm strength makes him a threat in short, medium, and long-range passes.
But he’s been prone to taking sacks in the name of making plays and doesn’t use his athleticism to avoid hits as much as he should.
Sanders has been called a ‘high floor’ product. Whether or not he can raise his ceiling in the NFL remains to be seen.
