The long and difficult ride for Shedeur Sanders finally ended in Round 5 of the 2025 NFL Draft with the Cleveland Browns. And Sanders received Hall of Fame advice about the tough run. Also, Deion Sanders had a classy move after the Browns selected Shedeur.

The Browns picked six other players before turning their attention to getting Shedeur Sanders. It had previously been believed Sanders wouldn’t last past the first round.

Of course, that didn’t sit well with Sanders and his family. But Deion didn’t pout, according to espn.com.

“Deion Sanders FaceTimed [Browns GM Andrew] Berry, with whom he built a good relationship throughout the predraft process, according to a source with knowledge of their conversations,” Daniel Oyefusi wrote.

“He is also familiar with Browns quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, who was a teammate and good friend of his during their season together with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994.”

Browns finally turn to QB Shedeur Sanders

The draft process must have seemed surreal for Shedeur Sanders. But Browns general manager Andrew Berry ended the suspense with a phone call.

“Hey, I know it's been a long weekend,” said Berry. “We're going to take you off the board here. All right, brother?”

“Yes, sir, let's do it,” Sanders responded.

“Let's get ready to go to work and prove all the people who passed on you wrong,” Berry said.

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To get Sanders, the Browns traded picks Nos. 166 and 192 to move up in the fifth round. It seemed like an odd thing to do after passing on Sanders so many times. The most notable of those occurrences came in Round 3 when the Browns took Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

If you’re Gabriel at this point, how comfortable can you feel about your status in the organization? It’s like the Browns picked him, and then said, “Oops,” and traded up later to get Sanders.

It’s reminiscent of the 1994 NFL Draft, when Washington took Heath Shuler with the No. 3 overall pick. The team was so confident in that high pick that it drafted Gus Frerotte in the seventh round.

How bad did the Shuler pick turn out to be? Washington passed on Hall of Fame defensive tackle Bryant Young, who went No. 7 to the 49ers. There were three second-round Hall of Famers in that draft as well: WR Isaac Bruce, C Kevin Mawae, and guard Larry Allen. Oops, indeed.

Berry tried to explain things away after the draft.

“We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft,” Berry said. “Really, the acquisition cost was pretty light, and it's a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot.”

But the only way for Sanders to outproduce his draft slot is for Gabriel to underproduce his. See how Berry’s logic fails when held up to the light?