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Shedeur Sanders sliding into the fifth round became the story of NFL Draft weekend.
Eventually, the Cleveland Browns decided they couldn't pass up the opportunity to draft the Colorado product, as general manager Andrew Berry traded his last two picks of the weekend to move up to pick 144 and pull the trigger.
The Browns made sure to capture the moment when Berry called Sanders to let him know they were going to select him. They shared the moving call via social media, with Berry giving Sanders a motivating message as he begins his NFL career.
"Let's get ready to go to work and prove everyone who passed on you wrong"
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 30, 2025
the moment the phone rang for @ShedeurSanders was one to remember pic.twitter.com/7ZPXQadnwO
"You gotta come in, you gotta earn your job, you gotta earn your keep," said Berry. "And it doesn't matter where you're taken, it matters what you do from this point forward, alright? ... let's get ready to go to work and prove all the people who passed on you wrong."
Despite being the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, Shedeur certainly enters the NFL with a chip on his shoulder. Throughout much of the pre-draft process, it was speculated that Sanders may not be a first-round pick, but nobody projected him to fall as far as he did.
As Berry revealed after the draft, by the time he was available in the fifth round he believed the value was too good to be true.
"We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft," Berry said over the weekend. "Really the acquisition cost was pretty light and it's a guy that we think can out produce his draft slot. So I wouldn't say it's any more than that."
Berry also dropped a similar motivating message in that press conference as he did on the phone with Sanders.
"I think obviously Shedeur has kind of grown up in the spotlight, but our expectation is for him to come in here and work and compete," he said. "Nothing's been promised, nothing will be given."
From here, how successful Sanders goes on to be in the NFL is up to him.
More must-reads:
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