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Browns are far from betting favorites to land Shedeur Sanders in NFL draft

Cleveland's third in betting odds to land the Colorado quarterback
Candace Pedraza
Candace Pedraza

Dawg Pound Daily

Big 12 Football Pro Day / Aaron M. Sprecher/GettyImages

The Cleveland Browns have a very interesting pool of quarterbacks to choose from in this year's NFL draft. They are likely to miss out on the opportunity to take Cam Ward at No. 2 overall, which leaves them in a spot to either take Shedeur Sanders or hope to get a decent starter later in the process.

That said, Sanders is the likeliest signal caller for them to take in the first round if they don't go with Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter atop the draft. If they trade back into the first round, then it's likely for Sanders' services. If they don't, he's likely to end up landing elsewhere - he's a high floor signal caller who could definitely develop into a decent starter in the NFL. It'd be silly to pass on that.

It's become clear that Cleveland doesn't seem to be the betting favorite to take Sanders in the draft. They are more likely to take someone like Carter or Hunter to add a sure-thing blue chip prospect to their roster, and hope to land someone average at quarterback in the second round (or even the third).

The team that's become the Vegas-favorite to take Sanders, though, is the New Orleans Saints.

Saints become betting favorite to land Sanders

Per FanDuel and DraftKings, the Saints are the favorites to come away from the draft with Sanders in the first round. DraftKings has their odds at +300. The Browns are also currently at +425 odds per DraftKings to land him, as the Giants currently edge them out at +350.

The Saints pick ninth overall in the NFL draft, and they're definitely in the market for a quarterback replacement to both Derek Carr and Spencer Rattler. Sanders would be a solid fit with New Orleans, but it feels like even at ninth, he may be going a bit high. If he does slide past the Saints, though, Cleveland should be seriously considering trading back up to snag him.

Read more: 3 potential draft moves from Browns after Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter meeting

The longer he slides, the easier it'll become for Cleveland to consider and execute a trade to get him. 9th is an interesting position to consider trading up to, though. It may be too high and would require far more capital to get done. It may force them to take someone like Tyler Shough, Jaxson Dart, or Jalen Milroe, instead.

The Browns, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, are enjoying the mystery around their draft strategy this offseason. But, that mystery will pretty quickly clear itself up if a team takes Sanders far earlier than the team is expecting, leading to a quick change in straetgy at quarterback in the draft.

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Candace Pedraza

Candace Pedraza

Candace Pedraza is the Site Editor for Side Lion Report. In addition to the Detroit Lions, she covers the WNBA for Winsidr as a senior writer and has gotten work on the WNBA published with WNBA.com. She has done work for The Knicks Wall and Secret Base, and started her career as a sports journalist back in 2015 as a color commentator and sideline reporter for SUNY Geneseo's Ice Knights hockey team. She is a fan of any and all New York sports teams as a Bronx native, including the Liberty, Knicks, Gotham FC, Bills, and Yankees. She resides in Jersey with her fiancé and three cats, loves to read and listen to podcasts, and loves traveling in her very small but mighty Toyota Corolla.