Andrew Berry: Browns didn't plan to draft two QBs, but we believe in positional value

The Browns made the highly unusual decision to draft two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft, making Dillon Gabriel the fifth quarterback off the board at pick No. 94, and Shedeur Sanders the sixth quarterback off the board 50 picks later. That wasn’t what they expected to do heading into the draft.

But Browns General Manager Andrew Berry said quarterback is too important a position to pass up a talented player, and that the Browns ultimately decided with Sanders there in the fifth round, it was worth going and getting him.

“Shedeur, we talk often about quarterback being the most important position in the sport,” Berry said. “We felt like it wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but we do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round.”

Berry said that after passing on Sanders repeatedly, they thought he was good value in the fifth round.

“He was a good, solid prospect at the most important position. We felt like it got to a point where he was probably mis-priced relative to the draft,” Berry said. “The acquisition cost was pretty light, and it’s a guy that we think can out-produce his draft slot. So I wouldn’t say it’s any more than that. . . . I may hesitate to characterize it as a blockbuster, that’s not necessarily how we thought of the transaction, but we are excited to work with him.”

So why was Sanders still available in Round 5?

“I can’t speak to why the market priced him the way it did,’ Berry said. “We had our own internal valuation, in terms of how we viewed the skill set and th equality of the player. Once it got to a point where it felt like it was at a pretty steep discount, we just felt like, especially relative to the alternative ways we could use the selection, this made the most sense.”