Shedeur Sanders reveals his Dillon Gabriel feelings after NFL draft drama

Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel may be competition on the field, but the rookie Browns quarterbacks are building quite the bond off it.

When discussing Cleveland’s third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Sanders said he and Gabriel, 24, are “truly cool” amidst the fallout of the ex-Colorado QB’s stunning slide to the fifth round.

“Everything’s been cool,” Sanders, 23, said in an interview with Sports Casting, published Monday. “He’s a cool person. I like how he handles situations, especially just the negative media that’s coming his way. I’m just happy he’s positive, he’s able to handle everything. We’re truly cool.”

The Browns, who added veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett this offseason with starter Deshaun Watson’s availability for 2025 in question due to injury, grabbed Gabriel with pick No. 94 on the second day of the NFL draft last month.

Sanders, regarded as the most polarizing prospect of this year’s class, had to wait until pick No. 144 to hear his name called by the Browns.

“We felt like he was a good, solid prospect at the most important position,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said of the decision to add Sanders two rounds after Gabriel. “We felt like it got to a point where his price relative to the draft where the acquisition cost was pretty light. It’s a guy we think can outproduce his draft stock. I wouldn’t say it’s any more than that.” 

Gabriel, who played his final collegiate season at Oregon, previously pushed back on the scrutiny surrounding Cleveland’s evolving quarterback situation.

“The more questions I get asked like that — it just divides the team,” Gabriel said earlier this month, as covered by Yahoo Sports.”We’re in a room full of, not just us but Kenny [Pickett], Joe [Flacco] and Deshaun [Watson]. For us, we know how important a healthy room is, but also a team that you want to be a part of.”

Although a starter won’t be named out of spring practices, Pickett, a 2022 first-round pick with the Steelers, is said to have the upper hand in the race.

“It’s a tough call before we’ve even seen the first practice of organized team activities, but I know Kenny Pickett heads in as the frontrunner to win the starting job at the outset. He’ll take the initial first-team reps in OTAs and probably the mandatory minicamp, and it seems like it’s his job to try to keep for now,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported Monday.

The 26-year-old Pickett was traded to the Browns by the Eagles in March after their Super Bowl-winning run. Flacco, 40, re-joined the Browns for his second stint in April.

The Browns open the season on Sept. 7 against the Bengals.