2025 NFL Draft: Deion Sanders flags hidden agenda over rampant criticism of Shedeur Sanders

The NFL Combine is right around the corner and several GMs and head coaches will be keeping a keen eye on the proceedings when Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward take the field to showcase their talents.

With the 2025 NFL Draft scheduled for the end of April, it will be interesting to see if the draft order remains the same or if another QB-needy team like the Las Vegas Raiders manages to trade up and swoop for one of the two quarterbacks. As things stand, the Cleveland Browns (#2) and New York Giants (#3) are widely expected to pick a quarterback, which means both Sanders and Ward will likely be off the board with the top three picks.

In the build-up to the draft, there has been some criticism levelled at both Sanders and Ward with some draft analysts claiming that this year’s class doesn’t compare to last year’s which included Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, JJ McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. and Caleb Williams. However, Deion Sanders believes there is a hidden agenda behind criticism of his son.

“I told him first of all, don’t believe anything they say. People are going to criticize you so you can fall to them. So don’t believe none of that. It’s positioning right now,” Sanders said.

“He’s speaking to the guys that make the moves so he’s not listening to the media. He’s speaking to the head coaches, GMs of the first three teams pretty much because that’s where we think he’s going to land.

“My advice to him is just embrace the moment. But he’s so poised and polished. He gets it. Shedeur’s been around me a long time so he really gets it.”

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2025 NFL Draft: Shedeur Sanders outraged at ESPN Draft analyst

One ESPN mock draft right after the Super Bowl had Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur slipping all the way to #6 overall to Tom Brady’s Las Vegas Raiders, a team that is in desperate need of a quarterback.

While Sanders would fit right in with the new Pete Carroll regime, the Colorado QB took offence at the fact that the ESPN analyst believed he would slide out of the top three picks.

“That was sick,” Sanders said during a workout with Cam Ward.

Sportskeeda’s resident draft expert Tony Pauline reported from the Shrine Bowl that the consensus is that Ward is the top quarterback in this draft. In his latest mock draft, he has Ward landing with the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 overall pick followed by Penn State’s Abdul Carter landing with the Browns and Sanders landing with the Giants.