
Shedeur Sanders went from widely projected first-round draft pick to fifth-round flyer of the Cleveland Browns over the weekend. Even the Browns passed over the polarizing Colorado quarterback six times, including for another quarterback, before ending his dramatic slide. Yet Sanders believes he’s a “perfect” fit for the Browns going into 2025, telling reporters Sunday he’s determined to show Cleveland — and the rest of the NFL — “the real me.”
“I feel like talent is everywhere throughout the draft,” Sanders said on a conference call, downplaying the notion he’s disappointed by his fall to Day 3 of the draft. “It’s just about being picked and who sees your value. … I was able to get an opportunity when a lot of people didn’t wanna give me an opportunity. … I know I’m gonna fit in perfectly. … [I’m] real comfortable with what they have in place.”
Sanders said his first priority with the Browns is “showing respect to the vets” and coaches. Why? Perhaps to dispel the oft-rumored and reported pre-draft notion that Sanders, the son of former NFL great Deion Sanders, turned off potential suitors thanks to an outsized or even entitled personality.
“I’m here ready to work,” Sanders said Sunday. “So they can actually understand the real me. … That’s what I’m truly thankful to have is an opportunity for people to actually see the real me. … That’s what I’m most excited about, being in the building [to prove that].”
Sanders won’t be the only quarterback looking to prove he belongs. With incumbent starter Deshaun Watson sidelined indefinitely due to injury, the Browns have stockpiled signal-callers this offseason, acquiring former first-rounder Kenny Pickett via trade, reuniting with veteran free agent Joe Flacco and spending a third-round pick on Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel. Funny enough, Sanders might still be the biggest name of the bunch.
Still, he doesn’t view his family’s celebrity as a hurdle to clear in the NFL.
“It was never a burden,” Sanders said. “It’s never a burden. … God makes everybody have their own routes, and this is just my route. … I don’t like when people make people feel ashamed about it.”
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