Shedeur Sanders
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Cleveland Browns backup quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
If you were kind of on the fence about how you felt about Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders before this, you might not be anymore. At least if you’re a Baltimore Ravens fan.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported just hours ahead of the Browns traveling to face the Ravens in Week 2 that Sanders told the Ravens not to take him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft.
“A surprising draft-day twist led to Shedeur Sanders winding up with the Browns,” Schefter wrote on his official X account on September 14. “Ravens planned to take Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round, but before Baltimore could turn in the card, the former Colorado star let it be known that he didn’t want to be on a roster with Lamar Jackson, where he would be a backup.”
It’s an incredible thing to think of — a fifth round pick asking a team not to pick him to play backup quarterback to a 2-time NFL Most Valuable Player. Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns in the fifth round (No. 144 overall).
Sanders is currently the emergency third quarterback for Cleveland behind starter and former Ravens Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco and 2025 third round pick Dillon Gabriel.