The entire Shedeur Sanders debacle is a black eye on the NFL. While fans, analysts and media celebrated the fact that Deion Sanders’ award-winning college quarterback had been blackballed and humbled by the league, inexplicably dropping to the fifth round, the Cleveland Browns decided to throw their franchise in the middle of the constant smear campaign against Shedeur Sanders.
Cleveland Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam Takes No Credit For Drafting Shedeur: It’s All On GM Andrew Berry
As Shedeur gets some reps with the first team and by all accounts, continues to impress with his performance, the fact that the franchise never had any intentions of allowing him to fairly compete for the job is no longer a myth.
Now that Shedeur is killing at camp, team owner Jimmy Haslam came out publicly to say the move to draft Deion’s son wasn’t his idea.
“If you’d have told me Friday night, we were going to pick Shedeur, I would’ve said, ‘That’s not happening,’” Haslam admitted to reporters. Despite his hesitation, the decision came down to General Manager Andrew Berry. Haslam said Berry had conversations with the front office that Saturday and ultimately made the call to bring Shedeur into the fold and all of the supposed drama and ego that comes with it.
“At the end of the day, that’s Andrew Berry’s call,” Haslam said. “He made the call.”
Haslam says he didn’t have a plan to draft Sanders, but he trusts his football minds to make decisions that make the franchise a winning one. If there’s any team that doesn’t have the time to play around with finding a franchise quarterback it’s the Browns. An organization that is known to be more of a quarterback killer than a cultivator of fine signal callers.
Shedeur, son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was once considered a first-round prospect. He played under his father at Jackson State and then Colorado, where he courageously and effectively helped rebuild the program. Shedeur won the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and earned second-team All-American honors.
Social Media Reacts To Browns Owner Saying He Never Wanted To Draft Shedeur Sanders
Fans didn’t know what to make of this odd press conference comment by Cleveland Browns ownership concerning a guy who supposedly was only worth a fifth-round pick.
“It’s obvious @Browns Ownership will come up with every excuse either to cut Shedeur or not play him,”
“Why would the owner say that,” asked another perplexed fan.
“Jimmy Haslam ain’t want Shedeur Sanders… but he don’t mind selling them jerseys and making a bag off his name,” said another fan, referencing the high demand for Sanders jerseys and the way he has captivated the local community already.
Browns Are One Of Losingest Franchises: Never Won A Super Bowl
The privilege and audacity of this perennially-losing owner is mindboggling. Owning a franchise that’s known as a doormat and hasn’t been relevant since the 80s and have a culture of 0 rings, but trying to discredit one of the elite talents in the country is more perplexing.
The Browns have had 19 losing seasons dating back to 2003. That’s right, they have had just three winning seasons in the past 22 years! Endless quarterbacks and head coaches and coordinators. Just a mess of a franchise. On the brighter side, two of those winning seasons have come under Berry, who took over in 2020 after serving as a Vice President of Football Operations with the Philadelphia Eagles. So the team is better.
At first glance it appeared that the franchise had a steal on their hands. But despite how Sanders was received by the community and performed when given the opportunity in camp, reports circulated that he would be cut and wasn’t in the Browns’ future plans, which initially made the choice to draft him very suspect.
Shedeur Should Be Viable Starting QB Candidate In Mid Cleveland Browns QB Room
Maybe Berry saw an opportunity to grab a franchise quarterback and took a shot. The reports about Shedeur not getting reps with the first team could all be a part of a grand plan by Berry to test Shedeur’s grit. His desire to be an NFL quarterback. There’s no conceivable reason that Browns ownership wouldn’t want to take a crack at Shedeur. The Browns quarterback room is among the league’s worst, minus Shedeur. Kenny Pickett is a journeyman, Joe Flacco is in his 40s and one hit away from retirement. Third-round selection Dillon Gabriel has been outplayed by Sanders throughout camp. Deshaun Watson is injured and chilling. Probably elated he never has to take another snap for this franchise again.
Andrew Berry Jr. Has To Have Master Plan With Shedeur Sanders
Andrew Berry Jr. seems to know what he’s doing. His dedication to being a strategic team-builder and talent evaluator couldn’t let him watch a talent like Shedeur stay on the board one more round. Perennial losing franchises such as the Browns, who have never won a Super Bowl, can’t afford to get involved in a game of collusion with teams who make the playoffs every season. That’s why you had to think Berry would give Shedeur a real crack at the starting job. The way Cleveland Browns fans are so willing to let the college phenom walk out of camp and be left with no hope for the future is crazy.
Reports say, Shedeur got to know Berry as the draft approached, and he always had Shedeur on his radar. It makes sense. Sometimes you have to play the game.
It’s clear that the owner was all in on the funny business. Maybe Berry is a hero in this situation. That’s only if Shedeur manages to stay with the Browns and become the starter. From all reports, right now, that is an uphill battle for reasons we can only guess. Maybe it’s coming from the top. He did say he didn’t want Shedeur in the first place. Funny franchises do funny things and the Browns are always full of jokes.
