Why Cleveland Browns drafted Shedeur Sanders and what's next - ESPN

One of the shocking slides in NFL draft history ended in the fifth round as the Cleveland Browns traded their 166th and 192nd picks to the Seattle Seahawks to select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with the 144th overall choice on Saturday.

The selection marked the end of a free fall that saw Sanders, who was regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the class, go from a potential first-round pick to a Day 3 selection. The Browns spent extensive time with Sanders through the predraft process — a large contingent of Browns coaches, execs and the ownership group traveled to Boulder, Colorado, to have dinner with him and former teammate Travis Hunter the night before their pro day workout — and he now lands in Cleveland, though much later than many envisioned.

Sanders' arrival comes at an inflection point for the Browns' franchise. Last month, owner Jimmy Haslam called the team's 2022 trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson, which cost Cleveland three first-rounders and a fully-guaranteed $230 million contract, a «big swing-and-miss.» It marked the first time anyone within the organization publicly acknowledged that the trade failed, despite three seasons of evidence on the field. Watson has been one of the league's worst quarterbacks since arriving in Cleveland and is expected to miss a significant portion of the 2025 season with a right Achilles injury that ended his 2024 campaign and which he re-tore in the offseason.

Sanders is also the second quarterback the Browns have taken in the 2025 draft, following the selection of Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round. Sanders joins a remodeled quarterback room that also includes Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, both of whom were added this offseason.

Browns reporter Daniel