Did Steelers Make a Huge Shedeur Sanders Mistake?

PITTSBURGH -- Did the Pittsburgh Steelers make a serious mistake avoiding Shedeur Sanders in the NFL Draft? The Cleveland Browns waited five rounds before selecting him, with 32 teams - including the Steelers - passing on him multiple times.

Pittsburgh was considered one of the best landing spots for him heading into the draft. They held him for a pre-draft visit, and at the time of the NFL Draft, didn't have Aaron Rodgers under contract. Drafting him would've made sense, but the Steelers chose not to. Now, are they regretting it?

Sanders went off during the Browns' preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. He finished completing 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweeted shortly after that those around the league was raving about the performance, beleiving there is even more to come from Sanders.

"It’s early, but wow. Actually shocked at how good he looks," Schultz tweeted.

Text from a high-ranking AFC North executive on #Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders: “It’s early, but wow. Actually shocked at how good he looks.” https://t.co/sb5xKB63sA
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 9, 2025

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James also gave Sanders a shout out for his performance in the preseason opener.

That young 🤴🏾 looking good out there! @ShedeurSanders Keep going UP!!! HEAD down on the grind and HEAD high to the most high 🙌🏾🫡
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 9, 2025

The Steelers believe in Rodgers and are happy with their quarterback room. But, right now, there is no plan for the future. They'll likely move up in the 2026 NFL Draft to try and land a first-round passer. If they drafted Sanders, though, maybe they wouldn't need to.

In the long-term, the Steelers may realize that they let a pretty good quarterback go to their AFC North rivals while they're still looking for a long-term solution. That's a dangerous place to be in for any NFL team.

Now, Sanders is only one game into his NFL career, and it's a preseason game against one of the league's worst teams. There is still a long way to go before anyone knows if he's truly a good quarterback or not.

But it was a hot start for the Browns rookie. One that has everyone fired about and thinking about what could come of the situation. Pittsburgh will hope nothing comes of it, and that they didn't mess up not drafting Sanders when they had the chance.

Only time will tell, though.

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