Colorado Buffaloes football legend Shedeur Sanders is a member of the Cleveland Browns for now, and if Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot is accurate in her reporting, for the foreseeable future, too.
It may be because his trade value is perceived to be all over the place, just like his standing in the Browns’ four-man quarterback competition with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel.
Heavy Sports' Owen Crisafulli tabbed Sanders’ trade value at a third-round pick from the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason.
Athlon Sports’ Timm Hamm claimed Crisafulli’s proposal “seemed crazy.”
“It seems crazy to think that the Steelers would spend a third-round pick on a fifth-round player, especially so soon after the draft. It also seems unthinkable that they'd go get Sanders — or any rookie — so soon after inking Aaron Rodgers,” Hamm wrote.
Pittsburgh signing Aaron Rodgers likely precludes any big-name additions for the rest of the offseason.
Adding anyone who can threaten his leadership role is a gamble. Sanders is the biggest name potentially on the trade market, and he hasn’t played even a preseason snap yet.
The more likely resolution in the Steel City would be Rodgers playing, or talking, his way out of the QB1 role. Mike Tomlin isn’t going to bend to his will like Robert Salah did during the New York Jets’ tumultuous 2024 season. Mason Rudolph is on the roster for a reason.
Sanders was a fifth-round pick for a reason. His value tumbled in the pre-draft process, likely due to stories about his supposedly disastrous meeting with New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
It didn’t improve drastically enough in two months for Sanders to be worth a third-round pick.