Rams legend Eric Dickerson says NFL told teams not to draft Shedeur Sanders, warned Browns originally appeared on The Sporting News
The saga of Shedeur Sanders continues to unfold just as the 2025 season is about to begin.
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According to Rams legend and NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, the NFL had an agenda against Sanders.
“The NFL told teams, ‘Do not draft him. We’re gonna make an example out of him,’” Dickerson said. “This came from a very good source. A very good source. And he said somebody called the Cleveland Browns and said, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t draft him.’”
Sanders was projected as a first-round pick for months leading up to the NFL Draft. Instead, he slid all the way to the fifth round, becoming the Browns’ final selection.
Many have questioned how a quarterback projected to go higher than several names taken before him could experience such a drastic fall.
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Sanders’ personality rubbed some people the wrong way, and his father — Colorado head coach Deion Sanders — was likely another factor in the plummet.
Still, if there truly was a coordinated plan within the NFL to tank Sanders’ draft stock, it’s a heinous move — and one that could eventually warrant investigation.
For now, Sanders is fighting to earn a spot on the Browns’ roster in what remains a four-man quarterback room. Typically, teams don’t carry four quarterbacks into the regular season. The Browns, however, could be the outlier.
One of Sanders biggest competitions will be against the quarterback selected before him in the third round, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.
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“It’s clear by now that the Browns trust Gabriel more than they do Sanders,” The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd writes. “The division of practice reps is the most unambiguous indication, but it even shines through in what each has been asked to do in limited preseason opportunities.”