Hours after Coach Prime refutes false "Giants" report, Adam Schefter links Shedeur Sanders to New York

Shedeur Sanders likely won't be the first quarterback taken in next month's 2025 NFL draft. The Colorado passer will probably be taken after Miami's Cam Ward, who could go No. 1 overall to the Tennessee Titans. ESPN's Adam Schefter envisioned Sanders going soon after.

Sanders has been linked to the Giants. A since-refuted report said his father, Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, otherwise known as Coach Prime, preferred Big Blue as his son's professional destination. Though Coach Prime pushed back on that, saying they'll be thankful for wherever Shedeur and his brother Shilo wind up, Schefter believed the Giants make a lot of sense.

"They've done a ton of work on him, they've spent a lot of time in Boulder," Schefter said Tuesday on "The Adam Schefter Podcast." "He had the New York Giants cleats before the Alamo Bowl, he was having a catch with Malik Nabers at the Heisman Trophy presentation.

"Again, we'll see what they decide, but there's been a lot of smoke and a lot of connections for Shedeur Sanders to New York."

Shedeur has been mocked near the top of the draft a good deal this offseason but has seen his stock fall recently.

Could Shedeur Sanders wind up with the Giants?

ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum, a former NFL executive, agreed with Schefter's thought. He took his analysis of Shedeur Sanders one step further in his mock draft.

"While the Giants have other massive weaknesses — including the offensive line — they can't pass on Sanders," Tannenbaum wrote Tuesday. "And that still rings true after Friday's signing of Jameis Winston, who is at best a stopgap starter for New York.

"Sanders is incredibly tough, can make all the throws, processes reads quickly in the pocket and delivers accurate balls. He lacks high-end mobility but still shows good pocket movement traits.

"I'm calling it now: Sanders projects as a top-15, maybe even top-12 starting QB in the NFL."

The Giants whiffed on their first-round selection of Daniel Jones in 2019, a partnership they dragged out for far too long, and lost star running back Saquon Barkley in part because of it.

If Sanders fills in how they'd hope, they could finally get back to contending for the playoffs in a division that includes a strong Philadelphia Eagles team and a Dallas Cowboys crew that's always in the news.