Shedeur Sanders still has huge opportunity even after slipping in draft

The infamous Shedeur Sanders draft slide of 2025 has finally come to an end, and the former Colorado star has a big opportunity in front of him despite the unprecedented tumble down the board.

Sanders was once viewed as the best quarterback in the country and a Heisman Trophy contender. His stock fell in part because of a series of unflattering reports, but very few — if any — people expected him to be a Day 3 pick.

The Cleveland Browns drafted Sanders on Saturday with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round. The decision was surprising given that the Browns took former Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round (No. 94 overall). Still, the value of Sanders in the fifth round was too much to pass up.

With Sanders and Gabriel now in the mix, the Browns have five quarterbacks, though Deshaun Watson is unlikely to play at all in 2025 after suffering a setback with his torn Achilles. Cleveland also acquired Kenny Pickett via a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this offseason and signed veteran Joe Flacco.

All of the aforementioned quarterbacks have one obvious thing in common — none of them is a lock to enter the 2025 season as a starter.

Flacco is by far the most experienced of the bunch, but the 40-year-old is best suited as a veteran backup at this point in his career. Pickett remains unproven and did not play well when he started in Pittsburgh.

What that means is that Sanders, despite being drafted four rounds later than he had hoped, might be able to compete for a starting job as a rookie. If he uses his unfortunate draft experience as motivation and has a strong camp, it would not be hard to envision him beating out Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel.

Sanders wanted to be drafted by a team with a top-five pick that viewed him as a franchise cornerstone. But by landing in Cleveland, he is at least entering a situation where there is no quarterback with a hold on the starting job. That is a silver lining for Sanders following what has been an embarrassing three-day stretch.