Browns Top Executive Refutes Notable Shedeur Sanders Report

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry set the record straight on team's involvement with Shedeur Sanders critical decision to not practice or play at Shrine Bowl
Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks during a press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks during a press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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The Cleveland Browns may have their eye on Colorado's Shedeur Sanders as their pick at No. 2 overall in April's NFL Draft and the evaluation process on Sanders is already underway.

Cleveland' top executive, general manager Andrew Berry was in attendance at the East-West Shrine Bowl over the weekend, where Sanders is participating. His involvement in the annual event abruptly changed late last week though, when he was noticeably sitting out practices.

Initially, reporting seemed to suggest that Sanders opted to sit the game out after meeting with the three teams at the top of the draft, the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland and the New York Giants. Several days later, Berry was present at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, A;a. and refuted the Browns involvement in Sanders decision.

"I don't know where that report came from," Berry told a small contingent of media at the Senior Bowl. "That's not true. That's not a request we made. With that being said, I want to be clear: whether he participated (in practices) or not, that would have no bearing on how we think of him. But I don't know where that came from."

Considering this year's class of quarterbacks – headlined by Sanders and Miami's Cam Ward – is not highly touted around the league, it would seem off for Berry to steer one of them away from an offseason event that could further help them in their evaluation process.

How he and the rest of the Browns staff feels about Sanders and his friend, Ward, remains to be seen. There are likely to be plenty of reports and rumors about those feelings in the weeks and months ahead though.


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Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally at John Carroll University, where he graduated in 2013.