Getty
Shedeur Sanders #2 of the Cleveland Browns
At this point, the Cleveland Browns have Shedeur Sanders signed to a standard NFL rookie contract, worth $4.7 million over four years, and there is no room for negotiating on that. Sanders is locked in with Cleveland, and the team continues to say through certain media members that it has not intention of moving him, while also hinting that he could yet get a chance to get back on the field after losing the starting job to veteran Deshaun Watson in training camp.
Thus, the immediate future for Sanders seems set: Sit and wait behind Watson, and if he either gets hurt or flames out, be ready to get back on the field. That appeared to be the state of play until ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday that Sanders would be doing something he had not done during the draft and first contract process (but probably should have).
He hired an agent.
Shedeur Sanders ‘Agent Seeks Options’
Here’s what Schefter reported on Wednesday: “Browns QB Shedeur Sanders, who went through draft night and the early part of his NFL career without an agent, has signed with Adie von Gontard, CEO of Young Money APAA Sports, for representation. With the signing, YMAPAA now represents former Colorado teammates Travis Hunter and Sanders.”
And the reaction was swift from media types.
Charles Robinson, formerly of Yahoo and now of NFL Blue Book, wrote, “Shedeur Sanders is in year 2 of a 4 year deal. He’s stuck behind Watson. He didn’t hire an agent when he *needed* one during the draft process. But now he hires one 5 games into his second season, with 12 games + 2 years left on his rookie deal? Use your brains. An agent seeks options.”
Will Shedeur Sanders Ask Out of the Browns? Or Vice Versa?
That was something that host Emmett Golden of ESPN Cleveland noted, too. There was really no reason Sanders to hire an agent unless something was cooking for the Browns.
Golden said on the air: “For people that aren’t familiar with this, sometimes a player will go to a team or a team will go to a player and say, Hey, this is what’s about to happen. Maybe the team will say, we’re going to waive you, (but) you can find a trade. A player might say, hey, listen, I would like to be traded. And they go, OK, find a trading partner, we’re not going to do the legwork, you do it. And in those situations, you would need an agent, because if you don’t have an agent—a player can’t be on the phone with teams like, ‘Hey, y’all want to trade for me?’
“I wonder if it is Shedeur going to the Browns and saying, I want an opportunity somewhere else. Or, are the Browns saying, hey, we are going to make Dillon active coming up here in a couple of weeks, and we’re going to waive you if you can’t find a trade.”
Browns Trade Coming?
And at 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Jonathan Peterlin raised the same Sanders-Browns trade flag.
As he said: “I think this is interesting. I can’t figure out why you’d hire an agent when you already have your rookie contract figured out unless you’re trying to make sure that everyone around the NFL knows that you’re open for a trade.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney