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Much of America was shocked this weekend when former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, projected by many to be a first-round pick, slipped all the way to the 5th round, eventually being selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th pick. Some were puzzled why a player that mock drafters and draft analysts had going in the 2nd round, at worst, was slipping to the 5th round.
During and since the draft, reports about poor interviews by Sanders with NFL teams and other things that reflect poorly on his character have been released. On Monday, former NFL star quarterback and media personality Boomer Esiason claimed that owners flat-out took Shedeur Sanders off of their boards.
Shedeur, the son of NFL legend and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, had two solid seasons at Colorado. The numbers were good, but he hovered around .500 and frequently held on to the ball too long, causing sacks. Plus, his arm talent is far from elite. Many internal scouts actually had him with a mid-round grade, but the narrative among media and mock drafters was that he was going to go in the 1st round.
That didn’t happen, largely due to character concerns and the fact that team simply did not want to deal with the media circus and headaches that would come with drafting him. Boomer Esiason shed more light on what went on during a radio show on Monday.
Awful: Multiple NFL team owners ordered their coaching staff to remove Shedeur Sanders from their draft boards:
Boomer Esiason: “They took him off, and they took him off because the owner said, take him off. I don’t want that guy."
😳😳😳
(via @WFAN660) pic.twitter.com/2LQ7bTytTi
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 28, 2025
On the contrary, many believe that it was Browns owner Jimmy Haslam that made the franchise draft Shedeur. So, it seems like owners were split on him.