Deion Sanders admitted that his son, Shedeur Sanders, explicitly told two NFL teams not to draft him during the April draft process. He made the startling revelation during an appearance on the “New Heights” podcast with the Kelce brothers.
While such demands might have seemed insane for a draft pick who felt he was a first-round talent but ended up being drafted in the fifth round, his reasoning does make some sense in retrospect.
Shedeur informed the Baltimore Ravens that he did not want to be selected with their 141st overall pick in the fifth round, as it would mean backing up Lamar Jackson for the duration of his rookie contract.
“How in the world can somebody fault him for thinking, ‘Why in the world would I go back up Lamar for 10 more years?’ Who comes in with that mindset?” Deion wondered.
“Where do these guys come from that sit on these platforms and say, ‘You should’ve sat behind and learned the game and developed.’ When have the pros developed anybody?”
Shedeur Sanders apparently didn’t want to Learn
Deion continued to rail against the idea that Shedeur Sanders should have to learn behind a great quarterback before potentially becoming one himself.
“By the time you get to the NFL, they expect you to know what you need to do and do it, or somebody else is gonna get in there and do it,” the two-time Super Bowl champ argued.
“I’ve never sat on the bench and said ‘I’ve learned a lot today.’ … Who learns sitting on the bench?”
Gee, I don’t know, Coach. Who learns by watching a great quarterback? Hmm … Aaron Rodgers backing up Brett Favre comes to mind. Steve Young learning behind Joe Montana. Tom Brady even had to pay his dues before taking over for Drew Bledsoe.
But Shedeur, who had already embarrassingly fallen to the fifth round, didn’t want to develop in a system that had done well for Jackson; he’d rather play third-string in Cleveland.
Bold move.
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Didn’t want the Eagles to call Either
Deion Sanders also let the cat out of the bag by revealing that Shedeur had told another solid franchise not to bother drafting him. And it was for similar reasons.
Shedeur declined interest from the Philadelphia Eagles, unwilling to sit behind Jalen Hurts without a realistic path to starting.
Coach Prime insists that the path through Cleveland would ultimately prove to be the correct one, predicting the Browns will name his son the starter at some point this season.
“It’s gonna go down this year,” Deion said. “He’s gonna get a shot.”
He might be right. But he’s also going to be competing on a team with a lower-tier offensive line, and one that is averaging just 86 yards per game on the ground.
Shedeur Sanders is going to get beaten up pretty good if he gets thrown to the lions. Will that ultimately be better for his career than going to a respected organization and learning from truly great quarterbacks? Guess we’ll see.