Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee Eric Dickerson has claimed that the National Football League sought to prevent quarterback Shedeur Sanders from being selected early in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns ultimately picked Sanders in the fifth round, with Dickerson alleging that NFL teams were instructed to pass on him.
During a recent appearance on “Roggin and Rodney” on LA Sports AM 570, Dickerson discussed what he said were efforts by the league to ensure Sanders was not drafted higher.
“What I heard from someone that’s in the NFL was that the NFL told other teams, ‘Don’t draft him, we’re going to make an example out of him,’” Dickerson said. “This came from a very good source. He said that, I won’t say who, somebody called the Cleveland Browns and said, ‘Don’t do that’ because they weren’t going to draft him either. They were forced into drafting him because somebody made a call to them.”
Dickerson continued by explaining his reaction as events unfolded during the draft: “When I saw he went into the second round, I said out loud that they’re not going to draft him. They were going to make an example out of him. I knew it. So the guy that they drafted, the quarterback they drafted ahead of him, he wasn’t as good as Shedeur. He even said it. How do you draft a guy that’s not better than the guy that you drafted after? That doesn’t even make sense.”
Dickerson also commented on his former team, questioning their approach at quarterback given their roster needs: “We could have gotten him cheap (…) We needed a backup quarterback, but I see we’ve got Garoppolo and we’ve got the other kid from Georgia. He seemed like he was doing a pretty good job. Since we talked about Matt Stafford, possibly this would be his last year, if he got hurt, just throw him into the mix. It wouldn’t have hurt anything. It would cost you a fourth-round pick or something like that.”
After being drafted by Cleveland with pick No. 144 overall—following Dillon Gabriel taken in Round Three—Sanders joined competition for a roster spot with Gabriel and Kenny Pickett. Though initially set for preseason action against Philadelphia Eagles following his start against Carolina Panthers where he completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, an oblique injury sidelined Sanders for one game; he is expected back for Saturday’s matchup versus Los Angeles Rams.
The Browns have named Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback for Week One against Cincinnati Bengals.
