Shedeur Sanders Favored to Land with Saints in New 2025 NFL Draft Betting Odds

Shedeur Sanders was already a popular pick for the New Orleans Saints in the 2025 NFL draft, but now the pairing is only getting stronger in the wake of Derek Carr's availability for next season being uncertain.

Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the Saints are now -130 favorites (bet $130 to win $100) to draft Sanders. They are the only team that has negative odds, with the Pittsburgh Steelers at +350 a distant second to land the Colorado quarterback.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Friday that Carr was dealing with a shoulder injury that could require surgery and is threatening his availability for next season.

Carr is coming off an injury-plagued 2024 due to oblique and hand injuries that limited him to 10 games. The hand injury ended his season after Week 14.

There was speculation at the end of the season, after Carr said he "wouldn't take a pay cut," the Saints might look to release the veteran quarterback. It would have been incredibly difficult for them to be cap-compliant by moving on from him this offseason.

Instead, the Saints did what they usually do with expensive veterans and restructured Carr's deal in March. It would seem unlikely they go this route, but the Saints could release him with a post-June 1 designation without taking any hit to their cap and save $50 million against the 2026 cap.

As Sanders' draft stock seems to have shifted significantly throughout the pre-draft process, the Saints were frequently cited as one of the teams that could be interested in him in the first round.

If quarterback-needy teams like the Cleveland Browns (No. 2 overall pick) and New York Giants (No. 3) pass on Sanders, the door is wide open for New Orleans to land Sanders with the ninth pick.

The only other team picking ahead of the Saints that could entertain a quarterback are the New York Jets at seven. There's also the possibility that someone looks to trade up if they really like Sanders and he's still on the board.

That type of jump is not really the M.O. for the Steelers. They have only made a trade to move up at least 10 spots in the first round twice since 2001, most recently six years ago when they sent a package with the No. 20 pick to the Denver Broncos to select Devin Bush at 10 overall.

Pittsburgh is currently slotted in at pick No. 21 in the first round.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is routinely one of the most aggressive executives in the league when it comes to making draft-day trades. He has made a total of 26 trades to move up in the draft since 2007.

Combine Loomis' aggressiveness with having two picks in both the third and fourth rounds, there's no telling what's he capable of doing if he wants to ensure Sanders is the Saints' pick in the first round.