After Shedeur Sanders fell to the No. 144 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the storyline around his fall — and his future — has dominated the sports conversation.
Some observers have pointed to Sanders’ combine interviews and pre-draft process. Others are now reacting to video from the Cleveland Browns’ draft room, fueling speculation that team owner Jimmy Haslam played a role in the pick.
Former Cleveland Browns HC Analyzes the Shedeur Sanders Pick
Appearing on “First Things First” on Fox Sports 1, former Browns head coach Eric Mangini joined a panel that included Nick Wright.
The clip begins with Wright laying out his concerns about Sanders’ transition to the NFL. Still, he noted that Sanders might already be the second-best quarterback on the Browns’ roster.
What’re the chances Sanders is Cleveland’s Week 1 starter? Coach Mangini weighs in: “They should play whoever they feel is gonna give them the best chance to win because playing Shedeur, and him going in and not being the best guy, is not gonna save their jobs.” pic.twitter.com/2AnNXlP8vk
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 29, 2025
Mangini ran through the team’s QB depth chart, which includes Kenny Pickett, third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and veteran Joe Flacco.
As the conversation continued, Wright and Mangini debated Sanders’ place on the roster. Wright then asked point-blank: “So how did he get drafted?”
“I think the owner said, ‘In the fifth round, we’re going to draft this guy,’” Mangini said.
After Wright agreed, Mangini followed up with a pointed comparison: “How’d that work out for Johnny Manziel when the owner said ‘Do that’?”
Wright replied that at least Manziel got a chance to play. Mangini reminded him that Manziel was a first-rounder—Sanders was a fifth.
Wright then argued that if the owner really pushed for Sanders, it could boost his chances of starting compared to someone like Gabriel, who was drafted 50 picks earlier by the coaching staff.
Mangini wasn’t convinced.
“But here’s what most people realize,” he said, “when the owner starts doing that and you’re in a year like they’re in—where this administration could be gone, you better not worry about the owner telling you who to start. Because let’s say you start him and he stinks. The owner’s gonna be like, ‘That’s what I pay you for, to evaluate guys, right? It was just a suggestion. I just suggested we take him in the fifth round. I didn’t mean you had to play him.’”
It’s worth noting that while Mangini was head coach of the Browns from 2009 to 2010, Haslam didn’t buy the team until 2012. Before that, the team was owned by Randy Lerner.
Mangini concluded his point by saying, “So they should play whoever they feel. So if it’s Pickett, if it’s Flacco, if it’s Gabriel, they should play whoever they feel is going to give them the best chance to win. Because playing Shedeur and him going in and not being the best guy is not gonna save their jobs.”
That’s been my stance all along. Head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry have one goal: keep their jobs. If they think starting Sanders helps them win and stay employed, they’ll do it.
But if the owner intervenes, as he did when the team gave Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed $230 million contract, it can definitely complicate things.
