Shedeur Sanders was the face of the 2025 NFL Draft, but fell from the potential first overall pick to No. 144 when the Cleveland Browns selected him in the fifth round. Sanders was the story after Night 1 when he wasn’t a first-round pick, and the story picked up steam after Night 2 when he fell beyond the third round.
Reactions and conspiracy theories came pouring in once Cleveland made the pick, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin released a video where he stood up for Sanders.
Michael Irivn Was Not Pleased That Shedeur Sanders Fell to the Fifth Round
Sanders’ fall to the fifth round 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.
The fall angered many people, including Mel Kiper Jr. and Irvin. “The Playmaker” was teammates with Sanders’ father, Deion Sanders, on the Dallas Cowboys from 1995 to 1999. Irvin was very upset about the Colorado product’s free fall and let his thoughts be known in a video he posted.
ML Football tweeted Irvin’s clip with the caption, “WOW: #NFL legend Michael Irvin says that Shedeur Sanders was ROBBED of 50 million dollars — and not because of his play. ‘You just robbed this young man of $50 million. And it wasn’t on his playing ability. Shame on you.'”
WOW: #NFL legend Michael Irvin says that Shedeur Sanders was ROBBED of 50 million dollars — and not because of his play.
“You just robbed this young man of $50 million. And it wasn't on his playing ability. Shame on you”
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) April 29, 2025
Irvin said, “The $50 million robbery of Shedeur Sanders, because that’s what I just witnessed. Everywhere we’ve seen, everything we’ve seen, everybody that has seen him play said he is the one or two [QBs] in this draft. I loved Cleveland picking this kid early on, but I can’t be mad at Cleveland if they played the cards and picked him up in the fifth round.
“But I sure would like to know how they knew he would still be there in the fifth round. I’ve been on that stage for years, and years, and years. I’VE NEVER. Never seen them position the cameras in position to give forewarning about who’s about to be drafted. I wonder if Cleveland got a call from somebody in the NFL, said, ‘We gotta draft this kid.’
“You just robbed this young man of $50 million, and it wasn’t on his playing ability. Wow. Shame on you.”
The frustration and feeling that Sanders was robbed is understandable. His on-field production spoke for itself. Sanders threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns while leading FBS with a 74.0% completion rate in 2024.
The film showed that Sanders was a top-five quarterback in this year’s class, but the NFL teams disagreed. That’s where Irvin’s rant goes off the rails. He used his experience on draft broadcasts to claim that the league positioned cameras to give a warning about who was going to be drafted.
This argument makes no logical sense. Irvin not elaborating on what he meant makes this thought that much more flimsy.
Sanders had the highest-profile fall in NFL Draft history because teams didn’t see him as a starting quarterback, then decided they didn’t want to deal with the circus that follows him. Unfortunately, he missed out on a big rookie contract, but he now has a chip on his shoulder that can propel his NFL career.