Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

‘NFL Told Teams Not to Draft Him’ – Shedeur Sanders NFL Draft Fall Was a Setup by the League, Reveals NFL Hall of Famer!

Shedeur Sanders draft fall is still being talked about four months later

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Even as we approach the final few games of preseason football, Shedeur Sanders and his infamous draft slide are still making headlines. Nearly four months after the NFL draft took place and Sanders fell out of the first round all the way to the fifth round, the story of how and why it happened continues to evolve.

You see, Sanders is not your typical college football player who got drafted into the league, waiting for his turn to become famous through his ball skills. As the son of Deion Sanders, he has already bypassed that process and is well-known enough to warrant any and every attention on him. The spotlight will always shine on him till the day he is out of the league.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that even now, there are plenty of people still talking about the unexplainable slide Shedeur Sanders had to sit through while endless names kept being called before him.

"The entire NFL told you he's a 5th round pick and the Browns are telling you he's a 3rd string QB."@colincowherd reacts to Shedeur Sanders being 3rd on Cleveland's depth chart behind Flacco and Gabriel pic.twitter.com/YmoY1oa5hX
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 21, 2025

Did the NFL Conspire against Sanders?

During a recent conversation that took place between sportscaster and radio personality Dan Patrick and senior NFL reporter Albert Breer on the ‘Dan Patrick Show,’ the former played a clip raising suspicions that the league conspired against Shedeur Sanders.

The clip in question was that of former running back Eric Dickerson, who was speaking on Fred Rogan and Rodney Pete’s AM570 radio show, wherein he directly stated that someone within the NFL told him that the league decided to make an example out of Sanders and told teams not to draft him. Dickerson also mentioned that this piece of information came from a very reputable source within the NFL.

“What I heard from someone that’s in the NFL that the NFL put it told…don’t draft him. Do not draft him. We’re going to make an example out of him. And this came from a very good source. A very good source. And he said that I won’t say who. Somebody called the Cleveland Browns and said, “Don’t do that”, Dickerson said, after which the conversation continued.

“Draft really?” Yep. Draft him. Don’t do that. Because they weren’t gonna draft him either.”

Rams Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson says the NFL told teams NOT to draft QB Shedeur Sanders:

“What I heard from someone that’s in the NFL. That the NFL told [teams], ‘Don’t draft him. Do not draft him. We’re gonna make an example out of him.’”

(via Dan Patrick Show) pic.twitter.com/dvJEeqcSXi
— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) August 21, 2025

Despite the surety with which Dickerson spoke, Breer was not ready to read too much into it when asked about his thoughts upon hearing the clip. According to Breer, such things tend to get blown out of proportion, and the only reason Sanders fell so far was due to footballing reasons.

Breer went on to explain that most teams did not rate the former Colorado Buffaloes signal caller worthy of a first-round draft selection. And when you take a look at the history of the NFL drafts, teams just don’t tend to select too many quarterbacks in the second and third rounds, as they prefer to load up on other positions with talented players.

Breer also added that it is difficult to fathom such a type of controversy in the league where all 32 teams decide to single out one player, especially when he has a father like Deion Sanders.

"I think he fell out of the first round for football reasons. I think he kept falling for everything else."

– @AlbertBreer on the conspiracies regarding Shedeur Sanders' draft slide. pic.twitter.com/3prDNvjqZs
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 21, 2025

How Has Sanders Handled Things Post Draft?

While everyone may have differing views on what actually happened during the draft, whether teams actually did conspire against him or whether they just didn’t think he was worth a first-round pick, Sanders has been going about his job the right way through training camp and preseason.

The media has kept its tabs on him, and as far as what has been reported, Sanders has shown a keen interest in learning and fighting for the starting job in Cleveland. Kevin Stefanski has already named veteran Joe Flacco as the Browns’ starter to begin the season, but if Sanders continues to develop and show good upside, he may take over the job in due course.

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!