Shedeur Sanders winners & losers: Browns get quarterback depth, drama by taking Colorado QB in fifth round

Bill Bender

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Shedeur Sanders winners & losers: Browns get quarterback depth, drama by taking Colorado QB in fifth round image

The Shedeur Sanders slide is over. 

The Cleveland Browns selected Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round with the No. 144 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday. That ended a stunning fall where Sanders — who was projected as a first-round pick — was selected on Day 3. 

Sanders, who passed for 4,734 yards, 37 TDs and 10 interceptions for the Buffaloes in 2024, became the story of the draft because he was passed over on Day 1 and Day 2. 

There was a lot to unpack with that slide. How could a quarterback projected to go in the first round fall to the third round? It's an NFL Draft storyline that will be talked about for years to come, partially because Sanders is the son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback. 

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In the short term, there are real-time winners, losers and factors to be determined. A closer look at the Shedeur Sanders saga:

Winners 

Shedeur Sanders' reality check 

Sanders was selected in the fifth round, and that Day 3 designation means there will be far less pressure to make an immediate impact. 

He is in a quarterback room with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and perhaps Deshaun Watson, and he will have a chance to play at some point given the chronic instability of the Browns’ position group. 

Sanders also has something to prove and will have to earn the starting job. Despite all the drama, Sanders has to be considered a value pick for Cleveland at this point in the draft. What will define Sanders? The slide? Or how he responds to it?

Browns quarterback depth  

Cleveland hasn’t had a franchise quarterback, but they have options for 2025 with Watson still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered late last season. The Browns have started seven different quarterbacks the past two seasons. Flacco will open the season as the starter in all likelihood, and the open competition between Dillon Gabriel — a third-round pick — and Sanders for one of the backup spots will be one of the more intriguing preseason storylines. Pickett could be either the backup or the third quarterback.

SN's NFL DRAFT HQ: Complete picks | Pick-by-pick grades

Jaxson Dart 

The Giants traded up to get Dart with the No. 25 pick in the first round. Dart had 17 TDs on passes of 20 yards or more in 2024, the most of any FBS quarterback. He also steps into a quarterback room with Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, and Dart will have time to develop behind those two veterans. At least we think that is the case.

Dart and Sanders will be linked throughout their careers as a result. But perhaps it will become more appropriate to link Dart to Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick, since both were Day 1 selections. 

Aaron Rodgers 

Once the Steelers passed on Sanders at No. 21, the speculation Rodgers will land in Pittsburgh became rampant. The Steelers, whose only active roster QBs are Mason Rudoph and Skylar Thompson, entered Day 2 with arguably the worst QB room in the NFL. No combination of Day 2 or Day 3 quarterbacks is going to change that. Rodgers has some leverage here if he is committed to returning for a 21st NFL season. He remains better than any of the current options. Sanders would have at least offered a reason to end that speculation.

MORE: How Sanders fits in with the Browns

Losers 

Browns quarterback drama  

Is this too much drama for Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski to handle? The Browns coach will have to navigate the multiple storylines about the quarterbacks, and Sanders will be the main attraction in OTAs and throughout the preseason. Cleveland is coming off a 3-14 season, and if there are struggles early in the season, then the calls for Sanders to play are only going to get louder. Will Stefanski be able to manage everything that comes with Sanders — which in part might have contributed to the draft slide. 

Tyler Shough

Shough is a tough call. The 6-foot-5 quarterback played seven years in college. He was a late riser in the draft process. That is a high-risk early-round pick for the Saints knowing Derek Carr and Spencer Rattler are already on the roster for first-year coach Kellen Moore. Shough had more of a Round 3 grade, so New Orleans better be right here, especially if Sanders turns out to be the better quarterback. Dart over Sanders seemed justifiable. Shough over Sanders does not feel the same way. The Saints reached too much.

'Anonymous sources'

Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy nailed this one. This quote became the lightning rod before the draft: 

"The worst formal interview I've ever been in my life," NFL Network's Tom Pelissero said he was told by an assistant coach. "He's so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates ... But the biggest thing is, he's not that good."

Pelissero is doing his job here, and the draft slide could offer proof. Still, put that assistant coach on the record. Have that source go back and forth with Coach Prime on X. If you're going to torpedo that NFL prospect's future in a way that is beyond the typical see-through smokescreen, then at least have the accountability to say it out loud. 

Instead, Sanders' slide went down the usual trajectory, with talking points ranging from Sanders' attitude to how much of a role race was a factor in the slide. When anonymous sources are used, it can spiral out of control. Everybody had an opinion on why Sanders slid down the board, including President Donald Trump.

Shedeur Sanders' Colorado jersey retirement

This was self-inflicted. Shedeur Sanders did help lead a turn-around at Colorado, but he was still 13-11 as a starter. Was that worthy of having a jersey before the next season even started? 

Given Colorado's history at the quarterback position — which includes Darian Hagan, a national championship quarterback who won SN Player of the Year honors in 1989; and Kordell Stewart, who was the No. 60 pick in the second round in 1995 — this was a premature move that was an easy target for Sanders' critics. This also might have added fuel to how much of an influence — or a voice — Deion Sanders will try to have with NFL organizations when it comes to how his son is managed at the next level. 

MORE: Reactions to Sanders' draft slide

To be determined … 

Deion Sanders 

How will Sanders come out of this? You cannot make a judgment quite yet. That did not stop ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith from giving his take on Coach Prime:  

Didn't we already do this with LeBron and Bronny? Then Smith took on a different tone on Day 2: 

Shedeur made it to the next level and will have a chance to play in the NFL. That's the dream for most fathers and sons. Sanders is 13-12 in two seasons at Colorado, which is a vast improvement from the 1-11 mess he inherited. Few analysts pictured Travis Hunter with the No. 2 pick and Shedeur Sanders as a legit NFL QB prospect when he made the "Louis Vuitton" speech upon his arrival in Boulder. 

Sanders' personality is over the top, and he's equal parts supportive, defensive and combative when it comes to how Shedeur is managed. Will Sanders be an impediment to that development knowing this is the first time he will not be Shedeur's coach? Deion was Shedeur's coach in pee-wee football, high school and college at two places in Jackson State and Colorado. It will be under the microscope, but how much of a distraction can Deion be when he is the coach of a FBS program? Is this angle being overplayed? By Day 3, it felt that way. 

Jalen Milroe 

Milroe also went ahead of Sanders on Day 2. The Seahawks took Milroe with the No. 92 pick in the third round. Milroe's draft stock varied the past two seasons, but he lands in a spot where he can develop as a backup behind Sam Darnold. Milroe had 45 TDs and 20 interceptions at Alabama, but he also had 20 of his 33 rushing TDs last season. He will be propped up against Sanders too, but Milroe was drafted according to his value.

Mel Kiper Jr. 

The ESPN NFL Draft analyst took a lot of criticism after stumping for Sanders during the first-round slide Thursday. There were countless variations of this tweet.  

What if Sanders, who was 36-14 as a starter in college with 134 TDs and 27 interceptions, turns out to  be an NFL star? How many apologies do you think Kiper is going to get from the critics? 

For those trying to make a correlation between Kiper and Sanders' slide, there are three networks with draft coverage and hundreds of draft analysts, and what percentage of those experts had Sanders going in the fifth round? 

Was Kiper stumping for Sanders over the top? No more than his stumping for some fifth-round defensive tackle that falls to the seventh round on Saturday. Kiper likes Sanders. We have liked Sanders since the draft process started, too. Targeting Kiper for Sanders' slide is absurd. 

Bill Bender

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.