The talk around new Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders might be the wildest storyline from the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders had a great season at Colorado, finishing eighth in the 2024 Heisman voting and winning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and only 10 picks while completing 74% of his passes.
Before the draft, almost everyone thought he was a lock for the first round. The numbers were there. The poise was there. His last name carries weight. But once draft night rolled around, Sanders just kept falling. And falling. And falling.
By the time the fifth round hit, Sanders was still on the board. That’s when the Browns finally pulled the trigger and ended one of the most shocking slides in recent draft memory.
Travis Kelce Rants About Shedeur Sanders’ Negativity From Anonymous Sources
So, what happened?
Leading up to the draft, reports started popping up from “anonymous sources.” Some teams supposedly didn’t like how Sanders handled meetings. Some said he was hard to deal with. Others hinted he might be more interested in branding than ball. Whatever the reason, the chatter took over the narrative. It got so loud that it looked like teams were flat-out removing him from their boards.
Not everyone bought into it.
Travis Kelce sure didn’t. The Kansas City Chiefs star lit up the situation during a recent episode of the “New Heights” podcast with his brother Jason.
“I think whoever’s the f***ing anonymous person that’s fing saying this should f***ing come out and say who they were. Like what the f*** is that about? Like if you’re gonna leak that f***ing s***, f***ing be the one that says, ‘Yeah it just didn’t go well for us.’ Don’t f***ing say that we’re anonymous, you know? That’s so f***ing lame. I just feel like there’s no validity to it.”
The Draft is only the beginning of Shedeur Sanders’ NFL journey pic.twitter.com/BiaX2toTh9
— New Heights (@newheightshow) April 30, 2025
Kelce can relate. In 2013, he slid in the draft because of what people labeled “character concerns.” That stuck with him. It still ticks him off. So when he sees Sanders going through something similar, he’s not staying quiet.
Inside Sanders’ Slide: NFL Insider Cites Giants Visit, Missed Details, More
NFL insider Albert Breer believes the reason was more about talent than anything.
“I think the fall out of the first two rounds was about talent and performance. I think the fall after that was about everything else.”
Drawing comparisons to Jay Cutler, Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, and Colin Kaepernick, he believed teams did not want to take him on in a non-starter capacity. Moreover, Breer put some of the blame on Sanders himself for the way he handled the draft process.
“Shedeur was handling himself like he was a top-five pick, and that was never the case.” Then, Breer got into specifics, beginning his visit with the New York Giants. “They give players their install, and there are mistakes intentionally put in the install.”
Unfortunately, “he didn’t catch them and got called on it. And it didn’t go well after that. … He was pissed that they did that to him.” A process that every prospect goes through didn’t go over well with him, something the Giants found less than ideal.
Meanwhile, Cleveland took Sanders, who hasn’t said anything about the slide or the criticism. No tweets. No jabs. Just silence. He’s staying locked in.
If he plays in Cleveland, like in Boulder, he won’t have to say anything. The league will talk for him — and maybe apologize, too.