If there’s anyone out there who has somewhat of an idea of what Shedeur Sanders was going through during the NFL Draft, it’s Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl winner had an ugly draft day in 2000 when he wasn’t selected until the sixth round.
As bad as things were for Brady, it was worse for Sanders, because Brady wasn’t projected to be a first-round pick. At one point during draft season, Sanders was viewed as a surefire top-three pick, but in a surprising turn of events, he ended up tumbling all the way down to the fifth round when the Cleveland Browns finally selected him.
Brady was actually watching the draft on Saturday, and we know that because he was watching it with Michael Strahan, who shared a few details of what Brady had to say after watching Sanders fall in the draft.
“I spent time with Tom Brady this past weekend and we watched the draft, and as Tom said, ‘He’s an example, it doesn’t matter when you’re picked,'” Strahan said this week on “Good Morning America.”
What Brady is implying here is that it doesn’t matter where you get taken in the draft, because you’ll have a chance to make the team no matter what. In Sanders’ situation specifically, if he had been taken fifth overall by the Browns, he would be in the same spot he is now: He’d be in Cleveland competing for the starting quarterback job against Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel.
Sanders is going to make a lot less money as a fifth-round pick, but there’s also less pressure on him.
One thing Strahan didn’t mention is how Brady the “owner” felt about Sanders the prospect. Brady holds a partial stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, and they were one of several teams that went into the draft with eyes on taking a quarterback. The Raiders had SEVEN different chances to draft Sanders before he was taken at 144th overall, but they passed on him each time.
Brady has been close with the Sanders family for years, so it will be interesting to hear what he has to say if he ever gets asked what the Raiders mindset was when they decided to pass on Sanders.
As for Strahan, he was surprised to see Sanders fall so far.
“I don’t think this kid should’ve dropped to the fifth round and I hate when you have unnamed sources,” Strahan said. “If you’re going to say something that bad to disparage a kid, put your name on it.”
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The fact that Sanders was so productive in college is one reason why shouldn’t have fallen so far, according to Strahan.
“You watch so many quarterbacks who had no amount of production like he had,” Strahan said. “It’s about numbers when it comes to quarterbacks.”
Brady and Strahan both seem to agree that Sanders is now in a good spot, even if he it took him until the fifth round to get there.
“Economically, this may have hurt Shedeur Sanders, but opportunity-wise it didn’t,” Strahan said. “Because he’s on a team where I think he has a good shot to make a difference. I think he’s going to be a great player. … I think the Browns did a good thing, and I think they’re going to enjoy it.”
Sanders definitely took a financial hit: The fall from the first round to the fifth round is going to cost him about $13 million, but that will probably sting a little less if he’s able to win the starting job in Cleveland.
Due to his draft fall, Brady famously played with a chip on his shoulder for most of his career, and now Sanders will be in the same situation: He’s going to have a chance to prove Brady’s Raiders and every other team that passed on him that they were all wrong.