The Browns draft class has been discussed and dissected as much as any other team this off-season. This is for a few reasons: the Browns made the biggest deal of draft night when they traded the 2nd selection for a haul of draft picks from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Then, there's the fact that they selected not one, but two QBs. One of them being the biggest lightning rod of the class, Shedeur Sanders.
Mike Sando of The Athletic penned an article that gathered opinions of anonymous NFL executives and coaches to get an idea of how the league felt about each team's draft class. There were some varying opinions on the Browns' strategy, including some harsh words.
The Good
Anonymous NFL executives loved the Browns trade down, acquiring the Jaguars 2026 first-round pick in the process. That selection could turn out to be extremely valuable, with the Browns either using it or trading it in a package to select their QB of the future, should Dillon Gabriel or Sanders not steal the job this season.
They also lauded the value of getting Sanders in the fifth round, albeit with some caveats. Sanders was described as a second-round talent, whose intangibles and baggage made him fall a few rounds. This could mean he's a major steal for Cleveland - but it could also mean that the rest of the league was right about his ceiling at the NFL level.
One coach opined that Sanders' slide to the fifth round could be to the Browns benefit - a dose of humble pie, so to speak - after he came off as "entitled and as having a higher opinion on himself than he should" in combine interviews.
Another executive declared that the Browns selected "a lot of talented players." While Sanders has dominated the headlines, the Browns quietly made quality additions in the top 36 picks at defensive tackle, linebacker, and running back, with Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, and Quinshon Judkins, respectively.
The view here is that the Browns desperately needed to begin formulating a young nucleus after the disastrous Deshaun Watson trade sapped them of three first-round picks. They need young, quality players, regardless of the glamor of their position, and according to draft experts and scouts, these players have as great a chance at being difference-makers as any players in the whole draft pool.
The Bad
Back in October, the New York Jets fired Robert Saleh after a 2-3 start, and Bill Belichick, then with ESPN, made a remarkable and hysterical comment about Jets ownership, lamenting that with that ownership group, it's been "just ready, fire, aim." It seems one of Sando's sources felt a similar sentiment, but of the Browns under Jimmy Haslam and the current regime led by Andrew Berry.
"Execs thought the Browns’ decision to select low-profile quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round before taking Shedeur Sanders in the fifth was consistent with an organization that seems to collect pieces without necessarily having a vision for the collective."Mike Sando
This scathing quote speaks to the dysfunction other NFL franchises have observed in Cleveland. There's not a plan, it's just flying by the seat of your pants and throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Obviously, this is no way to run an NFL franchise.
The Browns were also ridiculed for the viral video of their brain trust seeming less than enthused after making the Shedeur Sanders selection. The article went on to quote another executive who said "there is a level of distraction that comes with some players that impacts the team.. the energy that goes into coaching certain players impacts the team," directly related to the Sanders selection, and the apathetic reaction.
While it is impossible to miss that Shedeur Sanders has been a polarizing figure in NFL circles, the view here is that the Browns took a relatively low-risk gamble with a massive potential reward. Every single season, some fifth-round draft picks don't even make their team's initial roster. If Sanders' name joins this unfortunate list, it was just a swing-and-a-miss with little repercussions.
If the Browns have finally found themselves in the good graces of the football gods and Shedeur Sanders turns out to be a draft steal, the Browns will be all too happy to reap the rewards of a franchise QB on a cheap rookie contract, a la 49ers with Brock Purdy.
Besides, if the culture of the Cleveland Browns is 3-14 level football, and Sanders "impacts" that, would it really be the worst thing?