Sanders selected by Browns as NFL Draft's 144th pick

Sanders had his jersey number retired after leaving Colorado

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been selected by the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Draft - the sixth pick of the fifth round and 144th overall.

The former University of Colorado player - the son of legendary dual-purpose player Deion Sanders - had been projected to be a top-five pick.

His slide down the draft, as team after team chose not to pick him, confounded analysts. Even US President Donald Trump expressed his surprise on social media, posting: "What is wrong with NFL owners - are they stupid?"

"Thank you God," Sanders wrote on social media when news of the pick came through.

The Browns traded the 166th and 192nd overall picks to the Philadelphia Eagles to take Sanders with their seventh pick.

"We felt like he was a good, solid prospect at the most important position," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said.

"We felt it got to a point where he was probably mis-priced relative to the draft."

He became the sixth quarterback picked in the draft - and the second by the Browns, after they also took Oregon's Dillon Gabriel in the third round.

The Browns already had quarterbacks Deshaun Watson, Kenny Pickett and 40-year-old Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco on their roster - although Watson is injured and likely to miss next season.

Sanders' father Deion played for several teams including the Dallas Cowboy and the San Francisco 49ers in a storied NFL career during which he played cornerback in defence as well as a kick returner and wide receiver on offence.

He also played in the World Series - the pinnacle of baseball - for the Atlanta Braves in 1992.

Why was Sanders drafted so late?

Analysis - Ben Collins, BBC Sport

Sanders was the initial favourite to be the first overall pick in this year's draft but became its most polarising prospect.

He played four seasons of college football, two apiece with Jackson State and Colorado, and had last season's best pass completion rate (74.0%).

But as NFL teams stepped up their evaluation process from January, Sanders' draft stock began to fall.

Despite his passing accuracy, at 6ft 1in Sanders is not the typical size for a quarterback and does not have elite arm strength.

NFL scouts felt he holds on to the ball too long and has not got the athleticism to extend plays with his legs when under pressure.

More red flags were raised about his demeanour in March as teams spoke with Sanders at the Scouting Combine, with one coach saying his team's chat with Sanders was "the worst formal interview I've ever been in".

Sanders was described as "brash and arrogant", as well as "unprofessional and disinterested". Others felt he had a sense of entitlement and had been insulated, with his father having been his head coach throughout his college career.

Deion is outspoken and said he would step in if the wrong team wanted to draft Shedeur, who is already a wealthy celebrity in his own right through NIL deals, and some teams thought it would all be too much of a distraction.

Opinion was divided on Shedeur, even within NFL teams, and on multiple occasions every single team felt that drafting him was not worth the risk.

By the time he had slid to the fifth round, Cleveland decided it was worth taking that chance.