What We Know About the Saints' Shedeur Sanders Troll Post

The New Orleans Saints beat the Cleveland Browns 23-22 in overtime during Week 9, then used their victory message on social media to reference a comment tied to Browns starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, according to ESPN's roundup of NFL Week 9 trolls. ESPN's report frames the post as the headline entry in its weekly collection of teams and players taking shots at opponents following games around the league.

What was the final score of the Saints-Browns game?

New Orleans held off Cleveland 23-22 in overtime, ESPN reported. The Browns scored a touchdown late in the extra period and then went for a two-point conversion in an attempt to win the game outright, but the Saints' defense forced a stop, sealing the victory, according to the outlet's recap.

What role did Shedeur Sanders play in the loss?

Sanders started at quarterback for Cleveland in the matchup, per ESPN. The report does not include his statistical line, and the available version of ESPN's dispatch does not spell out the specific remarks that New Orleans referenced in its post-game caption — only that the team built its message around something Sanders or someone connected to the Browns had said ahead of the game.

What did the Saints say in their victory post?

ESPN described the move as New Orleans "keeping receipts" of comments made before the game, a tactic the outlet said tends to make a troll "extra petty." In introducing its weekly roundup, ESPN wrote:

"Keeping receipts of comments made by opposing players leading up to a game can usually make a troll extra petty."

That framing, attributed to ESPN's own report, places the Saints' caption at the top of the network's list of Week 9 social-media moments league-wide, according to the originating ESPN story.

Which other teams trolled rivals in Week 9?

The same ESPN package that led with the Saints-Sanders exchange also credits several other clubs for pointed moments tied to the week's games. ESPN's companion item, titled "Bengals go Real Madrid: Burrow, Chase, Higgins celebrate in Spain," describes Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow and receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins marking a win with a soccer-club-themed celebration. A separate ESPN piece, "Do the Stanky Legg: Ben Johnson's take is Chicago Bears' latest postgame tradition," says the Bears have adopted a recurring postgame dance under coach Ben Johnson. ESPN's roundup also references a piece titled "Caleb Williams dons Supreme zip-up before 'SNF' to lead NFL Week 9 arrivals," covering a quarterback's pregame outfit ahead of a Sunday night game. Each of those items sits alongside the Saints-Sanders post in ESPN's broader Week 9 trolls coverage.

What should fans watch for next?

• ESPN is tracking NFL trade-deadline moves in a separate, continuously updated story, "Tracking NFL trades: Catch up on every move and the latest buzz ahead of the deadline," published alongside the Week 9 trolls roundup.
• Cleveland's quarterback plans for Week 10 will become clearer once ESPN's betting-odds and matchup coverage for that week is set.
• Whether New Orleans' social media team continues referencing pregame comments from upcoming opponents, a pattern ESPN's report suggests is now part of the team's post-win routine.
• ESPN's updated NFL playoff-picture projections, published in the same cycle, which reflect how Week 9 results — including the Saints' overtime win — shifted postseason positioning league-wide.

ESPN's report does not identify who on the Browns' side made the original comment referenced by New Orleans, nor does the available text include the caption's exact wording. Readers looking for those specifics should consult ESPN's full story, which the network updated as part of its ongoing Week 9 coverage.

Who wrote ESPN's trolling roundup?

ESPN credited the report to Anthony Gharib, publishing it Nov. 8, 2026, at 8:07 p.m. ET under a byline line that also lists "Multiple Authors," according to the story's metadata. The piece runs under ESPN's recurring "Open Extended Reactions" format, a label the network uses for weekly columns that compile short items from several contributors rather than a single staff writer. ESPN's page also surfaces an "Editor's Picks" sidebar pointing to three related items — the Bengals' Real Madrid-themed celebration, the Bears' Stanky Legg tradition, and Caleb Williams' pregame outfit — signaling that the Saints-Sanders item was selected as the lead entry in a broader weekly package rather than a standalone news story, per the outlet's own site layout.