The biggest storyline of the 2025 NFL Draft was, without a doubt, Shedeur Sanders’ plummet to the fifth round after being touted as a potential first-round pick.
Everyone in the sports media world has had their chance to discuss the reasons for his drop, the repercussions, and what Shedeur should have done differently.
One of the most recent opinions making headlines is that of NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter, who appeared on the Fully Loaded Podcast to discuss everything that went wrong in Sanders’ pre-draft process.
The interview is making its rounds on social media on Tuesday, as Carter was candid about how he feels Sanders and his family “overplayed their hand” in this situation.
“You’re going for a job interview,” Carter said. “So for his job interview, he was so concerned about what his outfit was, his necklace was over a hundred grand. Like, he hadn’t even convinced people that you’re the face of our franchise.
“As a matter of fact, he had convinced people that they were better off going in a different direction, even with people who had lesser talent. That’s the rub he put onto people…He threw away at least $30 to $50 million. At least.“
Last year, Deion Sanders made a comment suggesting that it might “be an Eli” situation if the wrong team tried to draft his son. For context, Eli Manning made it very clear that he didn’t want to play for the San Diego Chargers leading up to the 2004 NFL Draft.
That’s where Carter thinks things began to work against Shedeur.
“…But Shedeur and his family, they overplayed their hand,” Carter said. “Them thinking that he was in the same evaluation mode as Eli Manning, they didn’t play that right. Them trying to narrow the teams that he was going to go to, that didn’t do right.
“Not working out at the combine, that wasn’t the right thing. His interview process—obviously he could have done a lot better in that. A lot of people left that meeting and felt he was very, very entitled.”
Now, after landing with the Browns on a fifth-round deal, Shedeur is learning a new lesson from the NFL.
“Let me tell you what he understands today,” Carter said. “He ain’t running s—. Okay? Let me tell you what, they taught him a great lesson. You don’t have this figured out. Your dad don’t have this figured out.”
