Shedeur Sanders’ immaturity is shining as news of his NFL Draft demand has leaked on Sunday morning.
The Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback is No. 3 on the depth chart, behind veteran Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel. Barring two major injuries, he will not be playing on Sunday, as the Browns take on the Ravens. But as Cleveland is taking on Lamar Jackson and Co., some interesting 2025 NFL Draft news has broken, via ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.
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The longtime NFL insider is reporting that Sanders, a two-year starter at Colorado who threw for 4,134 yards in his final college season, blocked a team from drafting him back in April.
Aug 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders looks on during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.
Schefter, who covers the league at large for ESPN, is reporting that the Baltimore Ravens were set to pick Sanders in the fifth round. The Ravens were prepared to select the former Colorado and Jackson State quarterback with the 141st overall pick.
However, Sanders told the Ravens: Don’t draft me. He did not want to sit behind Lamar Jackson.
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“Sanders knew that Jackson, a two-time MVP and one of the top players in the league, was not going to be losing his job as Baltimore’s starting quarterback anytime soon,” Schefter reported.
“So the message was conveyed to the Ravens that Sanders did want to be drafted by Baltimore and preferred to end up in a place where he might have a better chance to play sooner. The Ravens instead drafted offensive lineman Carson Vinson with the 141st pick.”
Three picks later, the Browns drafted Sanders, at No. 144 overall.
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Sanders’ draft demand was immature
While it’s understandable that Sanders would want to go to a situation where he has a chance at playing, he needed to be more mature in that moment. Several prominent NFL quarterbacks have gotten opportunities to play on good teams via different situations:
Tom Brady became the Patriots’ starting quarterback after an injury to Drew Bledsoe
Dak Prescott became the Cowboys’ starting quarterback after a preseason injury to Tony Romo
Jalen Hurts became the Eagles’ starting quarterback after poor play from Carson Wentz
Sure, the odds of a Lamar Jackson injury are probably small, but they are not 0 percent. The Ravens are a top-tier NFL organization. It’s fair to say that Sanders did himself no favors by rejecting the Ravens and ending up with the Browns, who have two quarterbacks – including a fellow rookie in Dillon Gabriel – ahead of him.
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“Everyone who has been giving Shedeur advice for the last 18 months has completely failed him,” NFL reporter Brett Kollmann wrote.
“What a missed opportunity for him to learn from and develop under Lamar Jackson…,” another fan suggested.
“Wonder how many other times this happened throughout his slide, if indeed true,” Sam Monson wrote.
“Obviously this story gets leaked to embarrass him but this seems pretty rational if you spent the entire draft process being told you were a top 5 pick,” Dan Wolken added.
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Time will tell, of course, if Shedeur Sanders and his camp made the right decision in the NFL Draft.
The Browns and the Ravens will kick off at 1 p.m E.T. on CBS.
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Sep 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.