Shedeur Sanders slide: How much money plummet in 2025 NFL Draft cost QB

After a surprising fall down the draft board and into Round 5, Shedeur Sanders is heading to Cleveland. The Browns traded up for the No. 144 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to select the former Colorado star, and his contract details have been revealed.

Sanders is set to sign a four-year contract with the Browns, according to Spotrac. The total value of the deal is $4.6 million – a $40 million decrease from a Top-2 pick in the draft – with an annual salary of $1.15 million.

Sanders entered the draft as ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s top quarterback on his big board. However, the Colorado star dropped out of not just the first round, but also the second and third rounds. The fourth round kicked things off Saturday, and Sanders’ name again was not called. That finally changed in the fifth round.

Shedeur Sanders has been drafted 144th overall by the Cleveland Browns.

Once projected top 3, his slide to the 5th round cost him over $40 million. pic.twitter.com/gU9Tqae9gz

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 26, 2025

Sanders put together a standout senior season at Colorado in 2024, leading the nation with a 74% completion percentage. He also totaled 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns while leading the Buffaloes to a bowl game as part of an impressive turnaround under his father, Deion.

However, Shedeur Sanders continued to fall down the board. ESPN’s Pete Thamel said there were a few factors in play regarding the drop, but noted the amount of quarterback talent in next year’s draft class. That group includes Drew Allar from Penn State, as well as Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, among others. While Arch Manning will be draft-eligible, Thamel pointed out he’s likely to be at Texas for four years and instead declare in 2027.

“A couple conversations came up I found interesting,” Thamel said of teams with which he spoke. “One is, teams at this point in the draft when they’re drafting a quarterback are looking at that quarterback as a backup. So the question becomes a philosophical one – how much draft capital do you use on a backup? Remember, we didn’t have a quarterback go in the second, third or fourth round. There was a 138-pick gap.

“Now, why did a team like the Browns, Rece, pass on taking a quarterback this year? They’re going to roll with Joe Flacco. I think a lot of that has to do, from talking with some teams the past two days, with the quarterback crop we’re going to see in 2026. It’s going to be exponentially better and deeper than the one we have now.”