When Jimmy Haslam’s Cleveland Browns drafted QB Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round, many cried owner interference. Browns GM Andrew Berry denied that claim after the draft—well, sort of. When asked if Haslam, the team owner, “encouraged” him to make the pick, he said, then repeated, “Jimmy lets us do our jobs”.
But what if part of Berry’s job as Browns GM is to listen to what Jimmy Haslam tells him to do? Strictly speaking, owners have the ultimate authority in every football team, even if not all choose to use it. Or to only use it very conservatively, at what he or she feels is a critical moment.
With the Browns in a quarterback crisis and Jimmy Haslam recently admitting that they made a mistake with Deshaun Watson, many felt that he was behind the team doubling down at quarterback with Shedeur Sanders after drafting Dillon Gabriel in the third round. Whether he interfered or not, I don’t think makes a great deal of difference. Though more than zero.
While there were differences of opinion over Sanders as a prospect, pretty much nobody believes he was a fifth-round talent. There are extraneous concerns that likely damaged his draft value, but as a football player, the Browns got a bargain.
Or as Berry put it, Sanders was a “pretty steep discount” in the fifth round for a “good, solid prospect”. That might sound like damning with faint praise, and perhaps it is. And perhaps some will also use that as evidence that it was Jimmy Haslam, not Berry, behind the Browns’ decision.
“We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft. Really, the acquisition cost was pretty light, and it’s a guy that we think can outproduce his draft slot”, Berry said of Shedeur Sanders. But what about that picture of Haslam in the draft room and Berry looking miserable?
“I think we were probably just tired from the weekend”, Berry said of the lack of enthusiasm in the Browns’ war room after selecting Sanders. HC Kevin Stefanski added that he doesn’t think the video was timed to the actual selection. “Don’t read too much into that”.
Berry had little explanation for why Sanders lasted until the fifth round. He didn’t specify how the Browns drafted him, but he did call his late availability a steep discount. They had already drafted another quarterback two rounds earlier, though, so it does make sense. If you’re going to trade up for another quarterback, you better believe he represents great value.
What role Jimmy Haslam played in Shedeur Sanders joining the Browns, we might never know, but Andrew Berry wouldn’t share the full story regardless. Nor should he, of course. For those on the outside, though, we get to have fun watching it all unfold—and possibly implode.
