Shedeur Sanders was widely seen as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he dropped to the 144th overall pick. The Cleveland Browns, a team initially linked to Sanders, ended his suffering in the fifth round, but the team’s personnel department had an interesting reaction when the pick was announced.
GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski explained why during a recent press conference.
Why Did the Browns Brass Look Emotionless for Shedeur Sanders Pick?
Sanders was the face of the 2025 NFL Draft, and his fall from potential first overall pick to No. 144 was historically agonizing. He was firmly considered QB2 in this year’s class by many draft experts, but after the New York Giants selected Jaxson Dart at No. 25, “Shedeur Watch” was on.
A fall out of the first round wasn’t totally unexpected. Besides the Browns and Giants, the Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, and Pittsburgh Steelers were likely landing spots. All of which passed until New York traded back into the first round to select Dart. That pick made sense for New York’s offense, but the following free fall to the fifth round didn’t.
Logical cases can be made for Tyler Shough and Jalen Milroe going ahead of Sanders, but no case can be made for Dillon Gabriel. The Browns, of all teams, made the former Oregon signal-caller the 94th overall pick, and Sanders fell to Day 3.
Five quarterbacks were taken before Sanders, and when the cameras cut to Cleveland’s war room after the pick was announced, things were eerily subdued.
Long-time Cleveland sportswriter Mary Kay Cabot asked, “Andrew, this is first for you. This seems like sort of a blockbuster move for you guys to make at this point. Then also, when we saw your guys’ reaction in the war room, it didn’t look necessarily exuberant. So I don’t know what we were seeing, but maybe you can explain that?”
Berry and Stefanski had simple responses.
Berry said, “I think we’re probably just tired from the weekend.” The GM laughed after his response.
Stefanski followed, “Sometimes when they show those clips, it’s not timed up to exactly the right time. Don’t read too much into that.”
Berry added, “When we’re actually making the pick,” during Stefanski’s comment, echoing the head coach’s thought.
The speculation has been that the team’s owner, Jimmy Haslam, told Berry to select Sanders. Haslam, like many owners, could be seen in the room with Berry and Stefanski throughout the draft, so the conspiracy theories are likely to run wild.
Every team has its war room, celebrating when picks are announced to avoid this very confusion. Cleveland’s war room was excited for every other pick that was shown, but the timing was off for this one. It’s a simple answer to a bad visual, but the reaction has gone viral for the wrong reasons.