Shedeur Sanders’ draft weekend slide happened only a couple of weeks ago, but it’s already becoming part of NFL lore. He eventually landed with the Cleveland Browns at No. 144 overall in the fifth round. However, he was expected to go much earlier — and to a different team.
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In fact, of the handful of teams that needed a QB, it could be argued that Cleveland spent the least time on Sanders. Instead, it was the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants who seemed the most intrigued by the Colorado QB during the pre-draft process.
Former NFL star Shawne Merriman’s company, Lifestyle Sports TV, had the rights to show this year’s practices prior to the East-West Shrine Bowl, which is a four-day showcase in early January for players who have declared for the NFL Draft. Merriman said that Giants and Titans brass were all over Shedeur during the event.
After the event, Merriman was near-certain that one of those two teams (especially the Giants) would not only take Sanders, but take him early.
“When I tell you the first 2-3 days of those practices. I’ve never seen it like that, it’s never been like that, the Shrine Bowl, ever. Every NFL personnel, GM, you name it, was there. And I talked to Brian Daboll, and I talked to the GM there. And I can tell you, between the Giants and the Titans, they would not leave Shedeur alone,” said the former linebacker.
“To the point where I was almost tripping over their digital cameras because they were in our way,” Merriman added.
Merriman went on to say that his conversations with the Giants’ and Titans’ brass, combined with the way they were following Sanders around at the event, made it seem like both teams were very high on him.
“They were trying to get as close as they were to Shedeur, so I knew that they were very high on Shedeur. So I don’t know what happened from the East-West Shrine Bowl until the draft, but whatever happened caused everybody to slip or look past, or not want to draft Shedeur,” Merriman continued.
“Because I can tell you right now that everybody was there to see him. Even though he wasn’t practicing, he was just kind of on the sidelines. They just wanted to see him and any kind of video they could get of him. So I don’t know what happened.”
Merriman wasn’t at all sure what happened in the three months between the Shrine Bowl on January 30 and the NFL Draft on April 24. Still, he spoke with confidence about the fact that on January 30, both the Titans and Giants had Sanders near the top of their draft boards, if not at the very top.
“I can tell you, that they wanted to draft Shedeur, at that time. The Titans or the Giants, he was going there 100 percent. Just based on what I’ve seen, and just the conversations that was happening there. So I know he was supposed to go to one of those two teams in the first round.”
Shedeur Sanders draft slide shocked Shawne Merriman due to the amount of attention the QB was getting from teams at the East West Shrine Bowl 🤔
"Between the Giants and the Titans, they would not leave Shedeur alone."@heykayadams | @shawnemerriman pic.twitter.com/nO9PrX4jLV
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) May 5, 2025
In the end, it seems as though the Titans used their No. 1 overall pick on the best QB in this draft: Miami’s Cam Ward. He’s more mobile, he’s got a better arm than Shedeur, and he has the ‘yes sir, no sir’ attitude a lot of old school football guys want. So it makes sense.
However, the Giants made a bit of a mess of their QB room. They signed two veterans in Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson, with the latter likely expecting to start. Then, not only did they pass on Shedeur, they gave away valuable draft capital to trade up and take Jaxson Dart late in the first round.
No other QBs were drafted until the third round, showing the Giants might have reached a little bit. The Dart-Sanders debate is sure to rage all summer—and perhaps beyond if Shedeur wins the starting job for the Browns—especially in New York.
