Theories abound about why Shedeur Sanders fell from a presumed top 5 pick to a fifth-round selection. However, one new theory suggests what many had not previously suspected: He did it purposefully.
The Sanders slide from pick three, at its highest projection, to pick 144, led to intense debate, shock, anger, and accusations of racism online. What could Sanders have possibly done in the interview process to sully his name and character to warrant such a drop?
A report from CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones brings a new angle to the debate.
“At some of those [combine] meetings with certain teams that maybe Shedeur Sanders didn’t really want to go to, didn’t see himself going to for any number of reasons, maybe they had a starting quarterback installed there—I was told that he more or less sandbagged in those interviews,” Jones reports. “I don’t know if he didn’t take them seriously, what it was, but he did not give it his all in some of those interviews. Rubbed some teams the wrong way.”
Expanded on this last night for @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/VFD4xIfLAw https://t.co/w2vcU7d0qI
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 26, 2025
It’s certainly a plausible explanation. Deion Sanders did indeed say there were certain cities where he would not allow his son to play.
“I know where I want them to go,” Deion said, referring to Shedeur and Shilo on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast in March of last year. “There’s certain cities where it ain’t going to happen… It’s going to be an Eli (Manning). We ain’t doing that.”
Ironically, Cleveland, the team that stopped his fall and drafted him at pick 144, was widely perceived to be on Sanders’ no-go list. So, the Browns’ passing on Shedeur seems perfectly explainable.
But, what about Pittsburgh?
Shedeur strongly hinted at wanting to go to the Steelers after he chose D.K. Metcalf and George Pickens when asked to provide a list of his favorite receivers. Would he have willingly tanked that interview?
What about the Giants? New York seemed like an ideal landing spot for Shedeur. Why would he have sabotaged that?
He was gravely mistaken if Shedeur planned to tank certain interviews and assume that none of these NFL executives would talk to each other about it.
Regardless, we know this: Sanders valued himself much more than most NFL teams did. Now, he has a chance to prove them wrong.
