Finally, some NFL team chose Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL draft. It wasn't the Seattle Seahawks, though. General manager John Schneider went in a different direction with a quarterback by taking Jalen Milroe in the third round. Every team in the league skipped Sanders multiple times until the Cleveland Browns could wait no longer.
Sanders joins one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL. The team's presumed starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, was acquired a couple of years ago after he was no longer welcome with the Houston Texans for some major off-field issues. He has been terrible with Cleveland.
Watson is once again injured, though, and will miss most, if not all, of the 2025 season. Sanders will battle with a couple of other veterans to try for the QB1 spot. He will need to earn his way, though, and show he is more than just a pocket passer. The poor Browns' offensive line will challenge his ability to move around.
Seahawks hurt NFC West rival by letting Browns take Shedeur Sanders in 2025 NFL draft
Not that most Seahawks fans care about Cleveland. What some 12s might care about, though, is screwing over an NFC rival, and Seattle was able to do that while helping the Browns trade up to choose Sanders.
According to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Philadelphia Eagles wanted to choose Sanders in the fifth round. They were all set to do that until the Browns decided to leapfrog them, putting them in a better position to select the quarterback. The Seahawks allowed that to happen as Cleveland sent Seattle picks 166 and 192 in return for pick 144. With that choice, Cleveland took Sanders.
The Eagles were choosing one spot back at 145 and should have assumed they would be able to take Sanders, as no one else had picked him. Instead, Cleveland must have gotten wind of what Philly wanted and made their move. The Eagles instead took cornerback Mac McWilliams.
Of course, Philadelphia has a quarterback in the person of Jalen Hurts, but Sanders might have been a good fit in their system. Should Hurts get injured, Sanders would have stepped in—no more. The Seahawks made sure Philly never got a chance to see how that would work.