Browns' Jimmy Haslam Says Shedeur Sanders Pick Was 'Andrew Berry's Call'

The Cleveland Browns surprised the football world when they drafted quarterback Shedeur Sanders with a fifth-round pick in this year's draft, and team owner Jimmy Haslam is making it clear that it wasn't his decision.

While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Haslam definitively stated that Browns general manager Andrew Berry was responsible for the team drafting Sanders.

"At the end of the day, that's Andrew Berry's call," Haslam said. "Andrew made the call to pick Shedeur."

Haslam clarified that Berry was simply doing his duties as Cleveland's GM, the same way on-field decisions belong to head coach Kevin Stefanski.

"Just like who's gonna start or what play we're gonna call is Kevin's call, that's Andrew's call. He made the call," Haslam said.

Before drafting Sanders, the Browns had already addressed their deficiencies at the quarterback position in the wake of Deshaun Watson's re-tear of his torn Achilles. Cleveland signed veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, acquired backup signal-caller Kenny Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles and used a third-round draft pick to select Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Haslam admitted that he had no inkling that Sanders would be joining the team after Day 2 of the draft was completed.

"If you'd have told me... Friday night that y'all are gonna pick Shedeur, I would [have said] that's not happening," Haslam said. "But we had a conversation early that morning, and then we had a conversation later that day. I think we had the right people involved in the conversation."

All four quarterbacks will be battling it out for the starting job during training camp, so Sanders will have the chance to show his skills and prove that Berry made the right decision to bring him to Cleveland.