Why Browns insider has changed mind about team's thoughts on Shedeur Sanders

As recently as Tuesday, Cleveland Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer seemed convinced that Browns general manager Andrew Berry hadn't yet slammed the door shut on the idea of selecting Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders over both Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter with the second pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

However, that was before former NFL player/executive and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick indicated that Sanders and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders don't want the polarizing prospect to end up in Cleveland. Riddick is close with the Sanders family and now has Cabot singing a different tune regarding the Browns' draft plans. 

"Either they know that Deion and Shedeur don’t want him to come here and they are working around that, or they have some kind of a plan or strategy where they’re going to draft Travis Hunter and then [trade back up for one of the] other quarterbacks," Cabot said about the Browns during the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk" podcast.

While Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski are reportedly high on offseason acquisition Kenny Pickett, most still expect the Browns will spend a high-value draft pick on a quarterback. That said, Cleveland was linked with lower-rated prospects such as Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart, Alabama's Jalen Milroe and Louisville's Tyler Shough even before Sanders lacked "elite traits" during his pro day workout on April 4.

For his mock draft updated on April 8, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. predicted the Browns will make Shough the draft's 33rd overall pick. On Thursday morning, Ken Carman of Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan shared that he's heard that Stefanski "loves" Milroe. Milroe played under Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees at Alabama.

"If Louis Riddick is out there telling us that Shedeur Sanders' camp would tell you the same thing, that they don’t want him to go in the top three, you have to listen," Cabot added during the podcast. Meanwhile, Dan Labbe of the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggested that the Sanders camp is now "getting the sense that [Shedeur] is going to fall" in the first round.

The recently hired New York Jets regime could consider grabbing Shedeur at pick No. 7, or he could land with the New Orleans Saints at selection No. 9. For whatever reasons, it sounds like a potential Sanders-Browns marriage won't take place on April 24.