Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ quarterback and son, Shedeur Sanders, is the current betting favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. If the season ended today, the Raiders would have the No. 2 pick. Deion thinks the Raiders would be a good spot for his son.
At an event in Las Vegas, Deion shared the stage with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, and when Sanders had the microphone he praised Pierce and then said he’d like to see both Shedeur and Colorado defensive back Shilo Sanders to play for the Raiders.
“You are truly the best,” Deion told Pierce. “Now I just need you to do one thing: I need you to draft those Sanders boys.”
Shilo, who is two years older than Shedeur, is not viewed as an elite draft prospect. But Deion would surely love to see a team he approves of draft Shedeur in the first round and also draft Shilo in a later round.
Players can’t control who drafts them, but a player can strongly encourage or strongly discourage certain teams if he has strong opinions about where he should play. And a player with a father who’s very well-connected in NFL circles is better positioned to identify the players he’s willing to play for or unwilling to play for. And a player with family wealth is better positioned to use the leverage of sitting out an entire year and re-entering the draft the following year if he doesn’t like the team that drafts him.
All of those dynamics were in play when Eli Manning refused to go to the Chargers when they drafted him with the first overall pick in 2004, and leveraged a trade to the Giants. Similar dynamics could come into play if Deion and Shedeur don’t like the team that ends up with the first overall pick in 2025. The Raiders would apparently meet with the Sanders family’s approval.