Shedeur Sanders entered the pre-draft process projected as a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, only to fall to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round. Now, NFL executives are shedding more light on what led to one of the most memorable falls in recent history.
Speaking to Jarrett Bell of USA Today, team executives were blunt about how Sanders’ slide demonstrated the process is about more than just football. In this case, Deion Sanders seemed to play a role in the slide.
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“I think his dad’s involvement hurt him. Some of the things his dad said, I think that weighed on people’s minds.”
Anonymous NFL executive on the role of Deion Sanders in why Shedeur Sanders dropped in the 2025 NFL Draft
While multiple executives explained that the draft slide had some to do with stuff off the football field, a third executive did note that it was also a talent-based slide. Simply put, Sanders wasn’t talented enough to make up for the concerns teams had.
“We liked Shedeur, but you can’t separate the other stuff from the physical abilities.”
NFL executive to USA Today on concerns with Shedeur Sanders dropping him in the NFL Draft
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Sanders’ leadership style and his persona were part of the concerns teams had. While it worked in college, playing on his father’s team, there were significant questions regarding whether or not Sanders had the makeup and maturity to be the leader of an NFL locker room.
The consensus from teams was that Sanders wasn’t a first-round talent and he was only projected to be taken in Round 1 because of the level of quarterback desperation for some teams. However, a reported confrontation in an interview with the New York Giants highlighted an approach to the pre-draft process that alarmed clubs.
As coaches got more involved with private meetings and pre-draft interviews, Sanders’ penchant for blaming teammates for interceptions and having some issues with concepts further fueled his slide. With all of that and physical tools that were deemed just average, he fell to the fifth round.
Related: Reporter reveals why the Browns drafted Dillon Gabriel before Shedeur Sanders