Sportsnaut
The Cleveland Browns made Shedeur Sanders the 144th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Browns general manager Andrew Berry even traded up in the fifth round to select him after Cleveland and every other team passed on Sanders several times. Ultimately, someone on the Browns wanted him on their team, yet to some, Sanders isn’t worth the drama.
Recently, The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd went on what could be described as an angry rant aimed at Sanders, questioning why he’s even still on a team that doesn’t seem to think he’s capable of performing at an NFL level. Not yet anyway.
In doing so, Lloyd believes it’s simply time for the Browns to just cut bait with Sanders, preferably as soon as possible, even if it means trading him before the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4.
“It’s time for the Browns and Sanders to part ways,” Lloyd wrote. “The sooner the better, and certainly before next month’s trade deadline. This isn’t just one inept team saying Sanders isn’t ready. It’s easy to find people around the league, and within the Browns, who will tell you Sanders isn’t a good NFL quarterback right now. What you’ll struggle to find is a team that believes he is ready to help them win games right now. If one existed, Sanders wouldn’t have fallen to the fifth round.”
Lloyd believes that if the Browns were able to find trade partners for Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, then there’s no reason a team wouldn’t want to take a chance on a 23-year-old rookie QB. Lloyd also reveals that one anonymous member of the Browns said that the team should have dealt Sanders during the preseason, when his hype was at an all-time high.
“If the Browns could get fifth-round picks for both Kenny Pickett and Flacco, they ought to be able to recoup the fifth they spent on Sanders last spring,” Lloyd wrote. “I had one member of the organization tell me a few weeks ago that they should’ve traded him for a draft pick immediately after his preseason showing against the Carolina Panthers. We already know the Ravens and Eagles were ready to take him in the fifth round. Maybe the Ravens will still want him. Is it a risk trading him within the division? Of course. But at this point, it feels like a risk keeping him in the building. “
We don’t see the issue with developing Sanders, hoping he can morph into a player capable of helping add to the victory column. Is there an excess of drama, fueled by the media? Of course there is, but quarterbacks always drive conversation. They always have, and they always will. The Browns knew that when they drafted Sanders, and their lack of a franchise solution is the sole reason why they take so much criticism.
In other words, moving on from Sanders would only add to the Browns’ perpetual list of problems. Who cares about the drama? The real trouble would be...
