What it means for the Browns that the Titans canceled their private workout with Shedeur Sanders

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A day after the Titans watched Shedeur Sanders throw passes to Travis Hunter and other receivers during their NFL showcase at Colorado, the Titans — who own the No. 1 pick in the draft — and Sanders mutually agreed to cancel their private workout scheduled for April 9, according Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com.

Wyatt posted on X and on the team website that “the Titans have seen 4 years of game film, scouted multiple games, and now attended a Pro Day they described as very impressive.”

The Titans had a large contingent at the showcase, attended by all 32 NFL teams. It included new GM Mike Borgonzi, president of football operations Chad Brinker, vice president Reggie McKenzie, offensive coordinator Nick Holz, defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, college scouting director Jon Salge and senior national scout Mike Boni.

Browns GM Andrew Berry spent some time talking to Brinker, and Browns owner Jimmy Haslam chatted with McKenzie for about 10 minutes in between drills. Afterward, Borgonzi praised the session.

“Shedeur threw the ball well, and we got to see him out there with Travis,” he told Wyatt. ”And Travis, everything you see on film — he is one of the twitchiest athletes I’ve ever seen. He’s impressive. It was good to see Shedeur go through the whole workout, and the two-minute drill after. It just confirms a lot of stuff you saw on tape — he can drive the deep ball, you saw that here today.

“So, it was a really good workout.”

The canceled workout seemingly points to the Titans drafting Miami QB Cam Ward at No. 1, but it could also mean that they saw what they needed to during the hour-long session, including an explosive deep ball with pinpoint accuracy. The Browns, who took Sanders and Hunter to a steakhouse in Boulder on Thursday night, have no plans to work Sanders out privately at this point, having seen what they needed at the showcase, which included under-center throws, some shotgun, play-action, rollouts, a behind-the-back completion, a handful of deep balls and a two-minute drill.

Like the Browns, the Titans will head home from Colorado to finish their top 30 visits and then hole up and finalize their draft board and strategy for April 24-26. While they seem poised to draft Ward, they also noted at the NFL Annual Meeting that they’d listen to offers for No. 1. Berry has said he’s unlikely to try to trade up — it’s never been done before — but the Giants at No. 3 are also seemingly interested in Ward and Sanders.

The Titans’ canceled workout doesn’t appear to mean much for the Browns, except to possibly reinforce that they’ll likely have Sanders, Hunter and Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter all available to them at No. 2.

The Browns were impressed by Sanders’ workout on Friday, but left Boulder with him and Hunter still firmly in the mix at No. 2, as well as Carter and possibly a few others. The Browns might also still be open to trading down some if they like a quarterback as much as Sanders or more, and believe they can get him later.

But it’s hard to see them passing on both Sanders and Hunter at No. 2 after watching them live on Friday and taking them to dinner. The two days were the final in-person parts of the evaluation, and helped reinforce that they’ll be ecstatic if they land either player.

“I’d say probably I leave here with, can I have both of them?” Berry told cleveland.com with a laugh. “We’ll take the whole process into mind. They’re both fantastic players, and we have the next several weeks to sort out all of the different scenarios. But today was a positive touchpoint, really, for both players.”

This week and next, the Browns will host players such as Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough, Texas receiver Isaiah Bond and Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins for their top 30 visits, and then they’ll conduct extensive meetings to set the board and decide on their strategy at No. 2 and No. 33 overall. If they go QB at No. 2 and more quarterbacks than expected go in the first round, they’ll have more elite non-QBs to choose from at 33.

Or, they’ll draft Hunter or Carter at No. 2, and find their quarterback later in the draft. They’re still working through their options, but the Titans canceling the workout doesn’t move the needle much on their plans.