Round Two: Why Shedeur Sanders is a good draft pick for the Browns

I was all set to write this as soon as the 2025 NFL Draft ended, but I figured: A. I’d let the dust settle a little bit, and B. Browns fans were crowding the ledge after the Shedeur Sanders pick so better to make sure everyone had gotten safely back inside.

So here’s what I think of the Cleveland Browns’ 2025 draft: Check back with me in 2030.

Because a good five years is often what’s needed to get a real gauge on how a franchise’s draft went. Sure, sometimes it’s obvious right away if a team nailed it in the draft, and sometimes it’s obvious right away if a team face-planted in the draft. More often than not, though, it takes a few years to see how things shake out.

But since the Browns usually are among those doing the face-planting on draft day, we’re conditioned to expect a fiasco every April. From selections that range from eyebrow-raising to head-scratching to panic-inducing, we sit there year after year and hear the Browns call names of players we’ve either convinced ourselves can’t play, prove in a very short period of time can’t play, or whom we’ve never even heard of, period.

Which brings us to Shedeur Sanders. We’ve heard of him, and for much of Browns Nation, that’s the downside – because we’ve heard plenty about him, and most of it has been less than complimentary.

Sanders, of course, played quarterback at the University of Colorado for his legendary father, Deion Sanders — which, as far as just about every owner, general manager and coach in the NFL is concerned, is a giant red flag right there. Shedeur Sanders went from being a possible high first-round pick to plummeting all the way to the No. 144 selection in Round 5, a drop of epic proportions that was due mainly to NFL front offices and coaching staffs becoming increasingly convinced that Sanders and Son were kryptonite.

We heard it all: Deion will demand that his kid start at quarterback as a rookie. Deion will demand that the offense be built around his kid. Deion will make contract demands. Shedeur has a bad attitude. Shedeur is lazy. Shedeur really isn’t that good anyway.

But the Browns, after passing on him several times earlier in the draft, decided to step out onto that creaky limb and take Shedeur with that No. 144 pick in the fifth round.

It was a great move. Here’s why:

Reason 1: It was the fifth round. Players drafted in later rounds, regardless of their family legacy, have to prove themselves to make a team, let alone earn playing time, let alone start. So the Browns are under no obligation to hand Shedeur anything.

Reason 2: It was the fifth round. And because of that, the Browns won’t have a ton of money tied up in Sanders — his rookie contract is projected to be a four-year deal worth around $4.6 million. In NFL terms, that’s chump change. The average NFL first-round rookie contract in 2025 is a four-year deal with a fifth-year team option, ranging from around $43 million for the No. 1 pick to less than $12 million for the last first-round selection. So Shedeur comes cheap.

Reason 3: It was the fifth round. Later-round picks are on a short leash, and if it doesn’t work out with Shedeur, the Browns still have four other quarterbacks: Deshaun Watson, who will probably miss all of the 2025 season with a torn Achilles; the ageless Joe Flacco, who at 40 years old could be the starter going into the season; journeyman Kenny Pickett, who is with his third team in his fourth year in the league; and rookie Dillon Gabriel.

Reason 4: Dillon Gabriel. It’s rare for a team to take two QBs in the same draft, but this is the Cleveland Browns we’re talking about. Ever since Bernie Kosar injured his right (throwing) elbow in the 1988 season opener at Kansas City — in the first minute of the game, no less — and was never the same again, the quarterback position has pretty much been a disaster for the Browns. So it’s hard to blame coach Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry, after watching their own QB disaster with Watson, for thinking there’s no such thing as too many quarterbacks. Those in the camp of “they’ve got too many quarterbacks” must have missed the last few seasons, when the Browns basically had no quarterbacks. The one bright spot was Flacco, whom the Browns pulled off his living room couch to save the 2023 season and get the team into the playoffs. Now comes Dillon Gabriel, who is an insurance policy that the Browns took out in this year’s third round: If Flacco’s age finally catches up to him and the Sanders experiment flops, they’ve still got Pickett, who has starting experience in the NFL, and Gabriel, who is a gunslinger’s gunslinger and seems very well suited for the modern NFL game.

Reason 5: Shedeur Sanders. OK, let’s run through it: We’ve heard he’s entitled. We’ve heard his attitude isn’t where it needs to be. We’ve heard his father can be a pain in the, well, you know. So, what we allegedly have here is a cocky kid with a helicopter dad? Pro sports are full of this dynamic. Heck, youth sports are full of this dynamic. So why is Shedeur Sanders being singled out? Deion had a similar tag coming out of Florida State in 1989: great athlete but cocky. That wasn’t enough to keep him from being the fifth overall pick because there were more free-thinkers in the NFL back then compared to today’s herd mentality, but there was no denying that Deion was brash — and still is. It’s his thing — he is Prime Time, after all. And naturally, all of this rubbed off on Shedeur. But Deion was also known for his tremendous work ethic, a consummate professional who was respected in the locker room. Surely, at some level this rubbed off on Shedeur as well. Either way, father and son no doubt realize that Cleveland is Shedeur’s one shot to make it in the NFL. If he blows it, it will only confirm to every other owner, GM and coach in the league that they had him pegged right all along. And actually, the Browns situation seems perfect for Shedeur: lowered expectations, no pressure to be the immediate starter, forced to compete for the QB job, and having another rookie on hand, Gabriel, to push him.

The scenario in Cleveland gives Sanders the chance to develop organically, through talent and determination, as a lower-round pick, rather than be forced to carry the weight of expectations that comes with high draft positions, big money and a legacy name. It’s a win-win for the Browns: If Sanders blossoms into a star, great; if he falls flat, they lose little by taking a chance on him.

About all those quarterbacks

Yes, it’s doubtful the Browns will keep all five quarterbacks. But the vote here is they should, because it’s really only four with Watson likely to miss the entire season. And with Flacco being 40 years old, it’s wishful thinking to believe he’ll be healthy all season, or even most of it. That would leave a journeyman (Pickett) and two rookies (Gabriel and Sanders) to take the snaps. If they dump a QB before the season, and the starter goes down with an injury, then it’s disaster time again with only two QBs available. Keep all five and do without an extra player somewhere else. Whatever position that would be, it’s not more important than quarterback.

Cavs gone fishin’

The Cavaliers’ quest for an NBA title without a player named LeBron James continues.

The team has been building for a few years now: In 2022, the Cavs reached the NBA’s play-in tournament; in 2023, they made the playoffs and lost in the first round; in 2024, they reached the second round; this season, they finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference and scored a historically lopsided series sweep of the Miami Heat in the first round.

This was supposed to be “the year.” The Cavaliers were cruising right along – until the Indiana Pacers turned the Cavs’ season into a giant, smoldering crater by the lakefront. Five games and no home victories for the Cavaliers later, it was over.

We can talk stats and strategy all day long, but this East Semifinal series came down to mental toughness: The Pacers had it in the clutch moments, and the Cavaliers did not. Maybe things came too easily in the regular season and against the Heat, while the Pacers, veterans of a run to the East Finals a year ago, are a team determined to go the distance this time around.

So now, after several years of growth and consistently taking the next step, the Cavs have hit a playoff wall. Injuries were a factor against the Pacers, yes, but there aren’t many NBA players who aren’t battling some ailment by this point in the season. Still, it did illustrate a depth problem for the Cavaliers that will need to be addressed in the offseason. They didn’t seem to have much left in the tank against the Pacers physically, and the Game 2 debacle took it out of them mentally.

Teams often have to go through growing pains like this – the Pacers themselves were swept by the eventual champion Celtics in the East Finals last year – before they’re able to break on through to the other side.

With another piece or two, the Cavs can.