Heading into the draft, Sanders was widely expected to be the second quarterback off the board behind Cam Ward, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Tennessee Titans. Instead, he slid all the way to the fifth round before the Browns eventually decided to trade up and select him with the No. 144 pick.

"I did not ever get any intel that the Cleveland Browns had him ranked high on their board," Russini said at the 14:45 mark of Tuesday's Scoop City podcast. "I think they saw that he was available in the fifth round, they met, they discussed it, and they went for it. They took a chance that maybe he can turn into something and be a player."

With a crowded quarterback room, the Cleveland Browns are declining a $22.117M fifth-year option salary for quarterback Kenny Pickett in 2026 according to Cleve