Shedeur Sanders’ future as an NFL quarterback may be in dispute, but he’s already proving to be a moneymaker for the world’s most profitable sports league.

The former Colorado star and son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders was picked by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th pick of last week’s NFL Draft, but only after being billed as a high first-round pick.

Fortunately for the NFL, his subsequent tumble from Day 1 to Day 3 of the draft appears to have buoyed ratings for the event’s later rounds. According to a league statement, an average of 7.3 million viewers watched second- and third-round coverage on Friday night, which marked a 40-percent increase from 2024.

That makes it the second largest Day 2 audience ever, although it’s worth noting the NFL had a two-day format prior to 2010, so the sample size is somewhat limited.

Sanders had once been so confident of his place among the NFL’s incoming quarterbacks that he refused to work out at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. He even had a stage built for what he thought he would his draft-night celebration on Thursday, only to leave attendees waiting throughout the night.

Friday’s Day 2 action wasn’t any easier as Sanders received a prank phone call from the 21-year-old son of an Atlanta Falcons ᴀssistant coach pretending to the quarterback’s new team. Instead, Sanders was forced to wait another day to be picked by the Browns – a team with four other healthy quarterbacks and an injured former starter in Deshaun Watson.

Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur (pictured) was picked by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th pick of last week’s NFL Draft, but only after being billed as a high first-round pick

The first-round coverage averaged 13.6 million viewers across television and digital platforms, according to the league and Nielsen. Not only is that an 11-percent increase, but it was the second-most watched first round on record behind 2020,  during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sanders will now battle veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as well as fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel for snaps in coach Kevin Stefanski’s offense. And if that wasn’t already made clear by the Browns’ crowded depth chart, general manager Andrew Berry crystallized the point during Saturday’s press conference.

‘I think Shedeur has grown up in the spotlight,’ Berry said of the second-generation NFL player, ‘but our expectation is for him to come in here and work and compete.’

Berry’s enthusiasm for drafting Shedeur is a matter of debate among fans, but he explained the team’s reason for the pick Saturday after pᴀssing him over on Thursday and Friday.

‘We live by our board, and we felt like he was a good solid prospect at the most important position,’ Berry said. ‘We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mis-priced relative to the draft. The acquisition cost was pretty light, and we think he’s a guy who can outproduce his draft slot.’

For his part, Shedeur said he’s happy to prove himself while learning the NFL game.

‘I’ve just got to prove and show what I’m capable of,’ Sanders told local media. ‘But what fuels me is my purpose in life and understanding the route that we’re going to have to take. Understanding that I was able to get an opportunity when a lot of people didn’t want to give me an opportunity. So that’s what I’m truly thankful for. So that’s what fuels me.’

Joe Flacco is returning for a second stint with the Cleveland Browns at age 40 this season 

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Shedeur was understandably relieved to be off the board, but didn’t sound as though he’d be doing much celebrating.

‘That’s what it’s about,’ he said. ‘You can’t be up too low or anything. You got to be able to celebrate. When we score a touchdown, we celebrate for a little bit and now it’s back to, it’s time to work, it’s time to go. All it is, is a football game to me, and that’s how I view it.

‘Nothing really affected me the last couple of days,’ he later added. ‘I’m blessed. I know I have to clean up some things in my game. The main thing is proving Stefanski and Mr. Berry right about picking me.’

Asked about reports that his poor team interviews may have led to his fall, Shedeur refocused his response on his opportunity in Cleveland.

‘I think what happened was I had a great interview and a great process with the Browns and that’s why they were able to pick me,’ he said. ‘Anything outside the organization is really a non-factor to me now. This is my focus.’

Prior to the press conferences, eagle-eyed fans spotted some curiously stoic faces in the Browns war room. 

There were some customary self-congratulations in the form of light applause, but Stefanski and Berry looked like they had a ‘gun pointed at them,’ according to one person on X.

‘Why does this look like they were forced to draft Sanders?’ asked another following Shedeur’s confusing fall from a projected first-round pick to a mere fifth-round selection.

The confusion stems from the Browns’ decision to take two quarterbacks in this year’s draft: Sanders and former Oregon Ducks star Dillon Gabriel, the 94th overall draft pick. 

And given the team’s off-season additions 40-year-old Joe Flacco and 26-year-old Kenny Pickett, not to mention the specter of injured Deshaun Watson, Berry & Co. now have a pretty crowded quarterback room.

‘It wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks,’ Berry told reporters Saturday. ‘But you know we do believe in best player available and positional value. And you know we didn’t necessarily expect [Sanders] to be available in the fifth round.’

Of course, the Browns – like every other NFL team – spent the better part of the three-day draft pᴀssing over the son of Hall-of-Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. So Berry’s sudden enthusiasm to trade up in the fifth round to take Shedeur seemed inauthentic to some fans.

‘Blink twice if you need help, Cleveland Browns,’ one fan wrote on X.

Eagle-eyed football fans spotted some curiously stoic faces in the Cleveland Browns war room after the team’s selection of Shedeur Sanders with the 144th overall pick on Saturday 

Another accused owner Jimmy Haslam of forcing his front office to make this trade, thereby ending Shedeur’s three-day slide that has captivated everyone from everyday football fans to NFL analysts and even President Donald Trump.

‘Lol, this was a Jimmy Haslem (sic) pick,’ the fan wrote, misspelling the 71-year-old owner’s name. ‘None of those guys [in the front office] are happy.’

Many fans thought Berry’s reaction was understandable. Shedeur is a fifth-round pick, and while he was thought of as the best quarterback in the NFL Draft by ESPN guru Mel Kiper Jr., he did slide to 144 for a reason.

‘It’s a late round pick?’ one fan asked. ‘You expect everyone to jump for joy for 200 picks?’

But not everyone saw Berry’s non-reaction as being so innocent.

As one fan responded: ‘A genuine smile would have sufficed.’

Both Stefanski and Berry were dismissive of fans’ concerns when speaking with Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

‘I asked #Browns Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry about this clip,’ she wrote on X. ‘Stefanski said not to read into it and that the video doesn’t always time up with the actual making of the pick.’