GREEN BAY, Wis. >> Shedeur Sanders’ long wait finally has ended.

The Cleveland Browns selected the Colorado quarterback and son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders in the fifth round with the 144th overall pick in the NFL draft on Saturday. That ended a stunning fall for Sanders, the most recognizable player in this draft class after his attention-getting college career.

Draft forecasts generally rated Sanders behind only Miami’s Cam Ward — who went first overall to the Tennessee Titans — among quarterbacks in this class. Five quarterbacks were taken before him instead, with one of them going to Cleveland when the Browns picked Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round.

“It wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. “But you know we do believe in best player available and positional value. And you know we didn’t necessarily expect (Sanders) to be available in the fifth round.”

After such a long delay, Sanders let out his emotions once he finally got the call a couple of days later than expected.

With his brother Shilo live-streaming the proceedings on Twitch, Sanders could be seen putting on a Browns cap and performing a celebratory dance at his family’s Texas home. Another video shared on X by the NFL showed Sanders jumping into a swimming pool.

“Thank you GOD,” Sanders said in an X post.

Sanders now is suddenly part of a crowded Browns quarterback room as Deshaun Watson sits out the upcoming season with a torn Achilles tendon. Sanders and Gabriel join Kenny Pickett and 40-year-old Joe Flacco.

The Browns moved up to take Sanders, trading their own fifth-round pick (No. 166 overall) and a sixth-round selection (No. 192) to Seattle in exchange for the No. 144 pick.

“Thank you (to) the Browns organization for giving me a chance,” Sanders said in a video that was posted on the Browns’ X account. “That’s all I need.”

The history of the draft includes plenty of stories of quarterbacks waiting much longer than expected to get drafted. Sometimes it ultimately worked out just fine for them.

Dan Marino was the sixth quarterback taken in the famous 1983 draft class and went 27th overall to Miami, where he would spend his entire Hall of Fame career. Aaron Rodgers was supposed to go among the first few picks in 2005 but went 24th to Green Bay, where he went on to win four MVP awards and a Super Bowl.

More recently, Will Levis was considered a near-certain first-round pick in 2023 but slipped into the second round before Tennessee took him at No. 33 overall.

But it’s hard to come up with a fall as steep as this one.

Sanders was one of the most recognizable names in college football the last couple of years while teaming up with 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter — taken second overall by Jacksonville — and playing for his father.

He finished eighth in the Heisman balloting last season while throwing for a school-record 4,134 yards and helping Colorado go 9-4. The Buffaloes had gone 4-8 in Sanders’ first season there in 2023 after he spent two years playing for his dad at Jackson State.

Most forecasts heading into the draft had Sanders going much sooner.

That’s now how it’s turned out.

The New York Giants traded up to get the 25th pick on Thursday but opted for Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart. Three other quarterbacks went Friday. New Orleans selected Louisville’s Tyler Shough in the second round. In the third round, Seattle chose Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Cleveland took Gabriel.