Kevin Stefanski explains Browns war room's viral reaction to Shedeur Sanders pick

Shedeur Sanders‘ stunning slide in the 2025 NFL Draft graciously ended midday Saturday when the Cleveland Browns — who originally passed on the former Colorado quarterback at No. 2 overall and its next five subsequent picks as well — selected him at 144th overall in Round 5.

And while it was certainly a gratifying selection for all involved, especially for the exuberant and relieved Sanders family, the televised reaction coming from the Cleveland war room immediately after the pick was announced was far less enthusiastic. In fact, the apathetic looks — to put it mildly — on the faces of Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry went viral Saturday.

Browns war room after drafting Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/VA0qU0KtUc

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 26, 2025

As evident in the clip, Berry and Stefanki were noticibly stone-faced during the announcement, lightly clapping inside a crowded war room that included other Brown personnel. It had all the excitement of a golf clap.

During a press conference after the conclusion of their draft Saturday, both Berry and Stefanski downplayed their subdued reaction to Sanders’ selection, attributing it to exhaustion and a delay in what made it to TV.

“I think we were probably just tired from the weekend,” Berry said with a laugh.

Stefanski added: “Those clips — it’s not timed up to exactly the right time, so don’t read too much into that.”

Cleveland Browns war room goes viral for Shedeur Sanders pick reaction

The Browns selected Sanders two full rounds after taking another quarterback during the 2025 NFL Draft — former Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel. And with the likes of veteran starter Joe Flacco and Deshaun Watson also on the roster, Sanders has a long road ahead of him to even make Cleveland’s opening day roster at this point.

Of course, given Sanders’ play last season at Colorado, when he threw for a career-best 4,134 yards on an impressive FBS-best 74-percent completion percentage to go along with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, the son of NFL legend Deion Sanders certainly has the pedigree to make a contribution early in his NFL career.

That said, the Browns’ selection of Sanders appeared unlikely heading into the third day of the 2025 NFL Draft after Cleveland selected Gabriel on Friday. It was a widely-discussed possibility ahead of Day 1, with some early mock drafts predicting Sanders to Cleveland with the No. 2 overall pick. But that never happened as the Browns traded the pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who drafted Sanders’ college teammate Travis Hunter at No. 2, with Cleveland opting for Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 5 overall.

That began Sanders’ draft plummet to Day 3, quickly becoming the biggest storyline of the three-day event that only ended when the Browns doubled-back and ended his slide in Round 5.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report.