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The story of the 2025 NFL Draft is yet to be written. The players who end up as Pro Bowlers or potential All-Pros in the future will tell its story, but as of right now, the narrative around it continues to be squarely on Shedeur Sanders. Even a month later, fans are still stunned by his fall.
The Cleveland Browns ultimately put a merciful end to it with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round. They did so two rounds after having drafted Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, which only brought more intrigue into the draft decision. Now, we know a little bit more about why the Browns pulled the trigger, and Deion Sanders was a part of it.
Browns franchise didn't want Shedeur and Deion Sanders to keep suffering on draft day
While speaking on the radio, longtime Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot dropped some details about the Browns front office's thought process when they made the decision to select Sanders. They liked him enough as a prospect, but more than anything, they wanted the Sanders family to stop suffering from the slide.
The Browns liked him throughout this entire process, that's why they jumped back up there in the fifth round and grabbed him. I don't think they wanted to see Shedeur suffer anymore, and Deion suffer anymore, and they wanted to give this young man a chance in the NFL that they felt he deserves.
It's certainly a different way to go about making a draft pick, but that late in the draft, it made sense regardless of if they did it to stop their suffering or not. Most fifth round picks and beyond don't last very long in the NFL, if they even make the roster as a rookie to begin with. It was worth the risk at that point.
Given Sanders' collegiate production and the team needing to find answers at quarterback any which way, no one would blame Cleveland for making that selection based on those two things. But there certainly seemed to be an empathetic aspect to the draft pick as well.