Browns legend Joe Thomas gives 'Shedeur Sanders cult' a reality check

"I think he has a higher ceiling. He's a great playmaker, he has tremendous accuracy, he has that feel when he is in the game of how to make those big plays. But just because you have that ceiling that's really high and that potential to be able to do that doesn't mean you can do it right now," Thomas said.

"And as a first-round talent, that's typically the guy that they are able to put right in there right away and give them everything that they have, and there's growing pains with every quarterback, especially a rookie. I think the reason Shedeur fell to the fifth round is because they feel like he's got a lot of development that he still needs to do before he can be an NFL starting quarterback."

The 10-time Pro Bowler said there is no conspiracy to sabotage Sanders - if anything, the opposite, since the better Sanders is, the more attention he can draw to the sport.

"The reality of the NFL Draft is that you have 32 teams that all want to beat each other, and so they're not conspiring together to sabotage somebody who, by the way, would be great for the league. And he is great for the league, because the league wants eyeballs," Thomas said.

"They want people watching their games, they want these great personalities, and so there is no reason - there is no reason they would be trying to conspire against him and sabotage him. Actually, the opposite: They want to promote a guy like that because he is so great for the league. It doesn't make sense on any level."