The Cleveland Browns made the most headlines of any team in the 2025 NFL Draft by trading the No. 2 overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars and passing on Travis Hunter before eventually becoming the team that stopped the historic slide of quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round.
There was a lot to love about what the Browns did over the weekend, and ESPN insider Adam Schefter recently revealed which aspect of Cleveland’s draft surprised him.
“I don’t think any of us would have been surprised if Cleveland were the team all along (to draft Sanders). The surprise for me was that they went Dillon Gabriel where they did … and once they did that, I felt like, ‘Well, they’re not going to go back to the quarterback, but but they did,” Schefter said, via ESPN Cleveland.
Schefter added that Sanders has as good an opportunity in Cleveland as he would have anywhere else in the NFL given the state of the Browns’ quarterback room.
Sanders and Gabriel will be joining a depth chart that already consists of Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, so it’s unclear who the Week 1 starter or the long-term solution will be.
Sanders theoretically could tear it up early and become the starter quickly if he is as good as advertised, only now he won’t have the same pressure that comes with being a top-10 pick.
The Browns and Sanders can take their time with this situation and see if the cream rises to the top.