Cam Newton reacts to report Shedeur Sanders turned down Baltimore Ravens in NFL Draft

Cam Newton had an interesting take about the report of Shedeur Sanders turning down the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Draft. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sanders wasn’t interested in being a backup to Lamar Jackson.

Instead, the Cleveland Browns made Sanders their second rookie QB pick in 2025 and he is now behind Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. Newton claimed the Ravens would’ve been the better option, although hindsight is 20-20.

“I think this is a learning lesson about life, because you just never know,” Newton said on First Take. “And with this particular situation, I don’t want to get too aggressive, you know, because when I talk about Shedeur, is so sensitive because of the passion and desire that I have, not only just for him, but also for his father. And there are some things that if you could go back and change obviously, hindsight is 20-20 but when you’re looking at the better situation, the better situation is definitely Baltimore, where you could potentially learn from a great and see how he manages so many different things outside of football, rather than just performing at an elite level.

“Well, in Cleveland, you got to go through two individuals to insert yourself, as you know, the starter. Dillon Gabriel, who’s now the second quarterback at hand, and then obviously, Joe Flacco. And when you consider those things, it’s like, oh, like, what situation is better? You know? No, he didn’t know that (he was going to wind up in Cleveland). He opted for what was behind curtain number two, rather than the known curtain in Baltimore.”

Cam Newton reacts to Shedeur Sanders, Ravens report

Sanders has not appeared in the regular season for the Browns. During the preseason, he saw high highs and low lows in his game appearances. The talent, like at Colorado, is there, but there currently no indications of the son of Deion Sanders starting anytime soon.

“If I’m Shedeur, you would ideally want to learn behind a guy like Lamar Jackson for this particular reason and this particular reason only, not a lot of players can really cope with your star power, with your stardom, right,” Newton said. “And let’s really give credit where credit is due. At 28 years old, being a phenomenal athlete, the thing that I respect a guy like Lamar Jackson the most, we’ve never heard him have any off the field issues. 

“He’s been a stand up guy, and all of our opinions have always led to his on-field performance. Not a lot of people can relate to what Shedeur Sanders has been through in his whole life, and that right there serves even more to make him a better player, because it’s the totality of the position. And I think Lamar Jackson would have been able to relate to him in many ways.”