Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ future with his new head coach, Todd Monken, began with a quip about the past.
The Browns posted a video on X showing Sanders meeting Monken after Cleveland hired the former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator to be its head coach. After a quick handshake and hug, Monken confirmed the reports from September that said the Ravens wanted to draft Sanders last year.
“Hey, we tried to draft your ass last year, for God’s sake,” Monken said. “It’s all worked out. You remember that, right? Huh?”
“That’s what I was about to tell you,” Sanders responded through a laugh.
“Someday we’ll get a chance to talk about that,” Monken said.
The report of the Ravens’ interest in selecting Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft came out ahead of the Week 2 matchup between the Browns and Ravens. At the time, Sanders was serving as the third-string quarterback for the Browns. In that Week 2 matchup, Joe Flacco started for Cleveland while rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel also got in the game as the Ravens beat the Browns 41-17.
After the loss, Sanders was asked about the reports saying that the Ravens were interested in drafting him, but that he did not want to go to Baltimore because he didn’t see an immediate opening to getting on the field ahead of two-time MVP Lamar Jackson.
“My response is I’m focused on the now,” Sanders said when asked about the report. “I don’t really talk about anything in the past, and whatever happened in the past, it is what it is. I’m more focused on now, and I’m focused on this game we just had and figuring out how to move forward from that. … You wouldn’t believe my memory don’t even go back that far. I don’t remember anything (pre) draft. I remember I’m here, I go to practice every day, and there’s a 24-hour rule.”
It was another two months before Sanders made his NFL debut, which came Nov. 16 in Cleveland’s second game against the Ravens. Sanders came in for an injured Gabriel and completed four of his 16 pass attempts for 47 yards and an interception. Sanders went on to start the remaining seven games for the Browns, going 3-4 as a starter. He completed just over 56 percent of his passes and threw seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Last week, Sanders was selected to the Pro Bowl as a replacement.
The Ravens made a curious trade when they were on the clock in the fourth round of last year’s draft with the 136th pick. They traded that pick, plus a sixth rounder (No. 183), to the Titans for Tennessee’s fifth-round pick (No. 141) and a sixth rounder (No. 178). Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta didn’t reveal the true reason at the time, but it was because the Ravens were checking with Sanders’ camp to make sure he wouldn’t be disgruntled if the Ravens drafted him.
Ultimately, the Ravens did not draft Sanders, and the former University of Colorado quarterback went in the fifth round at pick No. 144 to the Browns.
Had the Ravens selected Sanders in the draft, there’s a chance that Monken, the offensive coordinator on John Harbaugh’s staff in 2025, would have worked with Sanders on the field. Jackson missed four games in 2025 due to injury, with Cooper Rush filling in as the starter in two games and Tyler Huntley filling in for the other two games. Now, Monken will inherit a Browns quarterback room that features Sanders.