Rumor: Eagles were going to draft Shedeur Sanders in 5th-round before Cleveland traded ahead of them

The story of the 2025 NFL Draft is the Shedeur Sanders fall. And apparently, the Eagles were ready to end the slide right before the Cleveland Browns snagged him in the fifth-round.

Heading into Day 3, Philadelphia kept coming up as a dark horse to get the Colorado QB. We wrote about here, and several NFL insiders suggested the Eagles could be in the Sanders sweepstakes.

Sitting with the 145th pick, Howie Roseman and the Eagles were primed to take the star quarterback. But before they had the opportunity to do so, the Cleveland Browns struck a deal with Seattle to move up to 144th overall, where they finally ended the slide and grabbed Sanders.

There’s no concrete evidence that the Eagles were going to take Sanders at 145, but the rumors seem to hold some validity.

Philadelphia is always looking to add to their QB Factory. They ended up drafting Syracuse’s Kyle McCord a round later, proving they were interested in adding a quarterback in this year’s draft. Howie Roseman was even asked about possibly drafting Shedeur Sanders following the draft.

The Eagles GM dodged questions about having interest in Shedeur

Howie Roseman asked if the #Eagles were going to take Shedeur Sanders if the #Browns didn’t trade ahead of them: “I feel like the best thing to do is to focus on the players we did draft. It’d be a disservice to the players we did draft to talk about other teams players.” pic.twitter.com/sBRPl3j2QO

— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) April 26, 2025

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It would’ve been fascinating if Sanders ended up in Philadelphia. Part of me is glad it didn’t happen, but I can’t help wondering what it would’ve looked like if he had landed with the Birds.

For Shedeur, coming to Philadelphia probably would’ve been much more desirable. We’re talking about two franchises headed in completely opposite directions. Cleveland has five quarterbacks on their roster, all hoping to win the starting job — including Dillon Gabriel, who was drafted two rounds before Sanders.

Then you have Philadelphia: a bona fide Super Bowl contender with a franchise quarterback already in place and a solid backup in Tanner McKee. Sanders would’ve been QB3 with no real shot to start, but long-term, it probably would’ve been better for his career. Instead, he’s entering the NFL void — stuck with an organization that hasn’t been able to figure out the quarterback position for the past 30 years.

We’ll never know what the Shedeur Sanders–Eagles saga would’ve looked like. But who knows — maybe someday he’ll end up in Philly as a backup.