Deion Sanders assumed his son would be a high first-round pick, and he approached the draft that way. He had Shedeur sit out the Senior Bowl. Shedeur attended, but didn’t throw. He was at the NFL Combine for interviews, but once again didn’t throw.

When Shedeur Sanders was still on the board in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns decided to aggressively pursue him. According to ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi, Browns general manager Andrew Berry "worked hard" to find a trade that would bring Sanders to Cleveland as his fall continued early on Day 3.