Shedeur Sanders signs rookie contract with the Cleveland Browns

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shedeur Sanders reached his next NFL milestone on Monday as he signed his rookie contract with the Cleveland Browns.

Cleveland traded up with Seattle to take Sanders in the fifth round with the 144th overall pick and end the drama as the draft’s most recognizable player fell to the third day.

Sanders set Colorado single-season records last year as the Buffaloes made a bowl game for only the third time since 2008. He passed for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and accounted for 41 total TDs en route to being selected as the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year and a second-team selection on the AP All-America team.

Sanders will be part of a four-way competition for the Browns starting quarterback spot. Cleveland acquired former Steelers first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett in a trade with Philadelphia at the start of free agency on March 12. The Browns signed Joe Flacco last month, who went 4-1 as a starter in 2023 and led the Browns to the playoffs for only the fourth time since their return.

Cleveland also selected Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel late in the third round.

“My job here isn’t to prove people wrong, it’s to prove myself right,” Sanders said about offseason expectations during Cleveland’s rookie minicamp earlier this month. “I fully have self-belief, you know, and what those people say, that’s just their opinion. So, I don’t truly care. They don’t really live in my mental space about that type of stuff.”

The Browns have signed four of their seven draft picks in this year’s class.