Insider expands on if Browns ownership pushed for drafting of Shedeur Sanders

Pockets of football fans and maybe some team executives seemingly think that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was at least somewhat responsible for the club trading up in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft to take Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with pick No. 144 after the Browns selected Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round.

For a mailbag published on Sunday, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer addressed whether or not Haslam instructed general manager Andrew Berry to draft Sanders because of the attention the polarizing prospect would bring to the franchise this spring and summer. 

"Haslam wouldn’t force Berry to make a decision like that," Cabot wrote. "Berry has final say over roster decisions, and Haslam lets him do his job. Berry collaborates with others, including [Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski], on such decisions, but he is driving the roster bus, and Haslam doesn’t meddle. Back in 2014, when the inexperienced Ray Farmer was GM, Haslam influenced the pick of Johnny Manziel. But Berry is an experienced GM, and Haslam isn’t mandating moves. In the case of Deshaun Watson, he did come through with the fully guaranteed contract, but the trade itself wasn’t Haslam’s idea. It’s a perception he’ll always have a hard time shaking, but he’s not (Cowboys owner and general manager) Jerry Jones."

Whether or not Sanders' reported handling of the predraft process caused Berry and/or Stefanski to prefer Gabriel in the third round, even though he was viewed on the morning of April 25 as a third-day talent, is unclear. Much has been made about Cleveland adding both Gabriel and Sanders to a quarterback room that already featured veteran Joe Flacco and 2022 first-round choice Kenny Pickett.

As Cabot noted, the Browns could look to pick up a future draft asset for either Flacco or Pickett at any point between now and this fall's trade deadline. 

"I would think the Browns would want to keep both rookies, and I know they like Pickett. If he lives up to expectations in camp, Flacco could end up on the trading block," Cabot said. 

In a piece posted on Sunday night, Browns reporter Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand shared that "Gabriel should be considered the favorite to land the QB3 spot on the Browns’ depth chart because of his draft status." 

As of Monday morning, FanDuel Sportsbook had Flacco as the betting favorite at +116 odds to be Cleveland's Week 1 starter. Pickett was second on the list at +220 odds, followed by Sanders (+370) and Gabriel (+830). 

"The Browns had no plans to draft Shedeur Sanders on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, but once he tumbled into the fifth round, it became a no-brainer for Browns GM Andrew Berry," Cabot said in a different article. "The decision was 110% Berry’s and not a directive from Jimmy Haslam, despite the persistent narrative in NFL circles."

That narrative will likely continue to hover over the Browns for the foreseeable future, regardless of what anybody associated with the team says about why Sanders and Gabriel are currently teammates.