"They overplayed their hand" - NFL Hall of Famer goes scorched earth on Shedeur Sanders’ family

Cris Carter has seen plenty in his Hall of Fame NFL career, but when it came to Shedeur Sanders’ drop to the fifth round of the 2025 draft, he wasn’t pulling any punches.

Speaking on "The Fully Loaded Podcast," Carter dismissed suggestions that Sanders’ fall at the 2025 NFL Draft resulted from league-wide bias or collusion. He pointed the finger at the quarterback’s team, more specifically, his family.

“There was no collusion,” Carter said. “NFL owners aren’t unified enough for that. If I’m a team that needs a quarterback, and I believe this kid can play, I’m not passing on him just to support some bigger agenda.”

The narrative around Sanders had been shifting for weeks. Once considered a second-round pick, maybe even a late first-round sleeper, the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback watched team after team passed him up before the Browns finally took him at pick No. 144.

Carter believes that the slide had less to do with on-field ability and more to do with how Shedeur and his camp, led by his father, Deion Sanders, tried to control the process.

“They overplayed their hand,” Carter said. “Trying to direct where he would land, skipping the combine, acting like he was in the same situation as Eli Manning. That wasn’t the right move.”

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Is Deion Sanders really to blame for Shedeur’s draft stock slide?

While not directly naming Deion, Carter made clear that the high-profile coach’s involvement may have blurred the line between preparation and posturing.

“You’re going for a job interview,” he added. “You don’t get to walk in and dictate the terms. And they found that out the hard way. He ain’t running anything. Not him, not his dad. The league reminded them of that.”

Carter estimated the drop could cost Sanders between $30 and $50 million in potential earnings and endorsements. The kind of lesson the NFL doesn’t teach twice.

Shedeur enters a crowded quarterback room in Cleveland that includes Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. Whether he climbs that depth chart or not, Carter made it clear that this wasn’t about politics. It was about process, and the league wasn’t buying anything that Team Sanders was selling.

Sanders has not addressed Carter’s remarks publicly, but he emphasized staying grounded during his post-draft media availability. He said he was "extremely grateful for the opportunity” and spoke about shifting quickly from emotions to execution.