
The Cleveland Browns wanted Shedeur Sanders, even if they passed on him several times and took another quarterback before they actually selected him. After waiting four rounds, the Browns made their move by trading up to No. 144 overall to select Sanders — the sixth pick of the fifth round.
Cleveland made six draft picks before selecting Sanders, including taking quarterback Dillon Gabriel in Round 3. What prompted the Brown to trade up and select Sanders? According to NFL Media, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who owned the 145th pick, had been involved in rumors all day connecting them with Sanders.
The Browns didn’t take any chances and traded over the Eagles to get Sanders. The thought process is valid, given that Browns general manager Andrew Berry and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman worked together in Philadelphia. Berry was the vice president of football operations with the Eagles in 2019 before returning to the Browns as their general manager in 2020 (he previously served as vice president of player personnel in his first stint with Cleveland).
The Eagles have only made three picks in this draft and currently have a quarterback room of Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Philadelphia could have used a quarterback to develop behind Hurts and McKee, and perhaps it thought Sanders had value as a fifth-round pick.

Cleveland didn’t want to take that risk and traded over Philadelphia to make sure Sanders was selected to the roster. The Browns traded the No. 166 and No. 192 picks to the Seattle Seahawks — parting ways with a fifth-round pick and sixth-round pick to move up and get Sanders.
Tremendous value for Cleveland, but the Browns also selected the last quarterback taken (Gabriel) before taking Sanders. It’s been 52 years since two straight quarterbacks were drafted by the same team in the first seven rounds of the draft (1973 Los Angeles Rams: Ron Jaworski and Gary Keithley).
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