NFL Exec Says Shedeur Sanders Isn't 'A Villain or a Victim' Amid 2025 Draft Slide

Two days and 102 picks into the 2025 NFL draft, everyone is trying to figure out what has happened that led to Shedeur Sanders not being selected by a team at this point.

Per ESPN's Jeff Darlington, one NFL executive explained that Sanders is neither "a villain or a victim" in this situation and the feeling among teams around the league is he would be an appealing option on day three.

The villain narrative, while perhaps too strong of a term, hasn't necessarily gone away.

CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones said after the end of the third round on Friday night that Sanders still being on the board is a message from NFL teams about the way he and people around him handled the pre-draft process, including how he "sandbagged" interviews with some teams for whatever reason.

It's hard to hear something like that and not feel like there's a villain narrative of sorts being spun.

Sanders is also getting sympathy now, not only for falling much further than anyone would have predicted when the draft started, but for being the victim of a prank call on Friday night with someone pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.

The executive is correct that Sanders isn't a victim or villain, but there is clearly some baggage that teams are concerned about adding to their quarterback.

There's definitely going to be a circus around Sanders wherever he ends up. His brother has a media company that has followed him around virtually every day of his college career dating back to his freshman year at Jackson State in 2021.

Deion Sanders, who has coached Shedeur every year since 2017, was saying as recently as January there were "a couple of teams" he wouldn't let his son play for in the NFL.

As the draft got closer, Deion did change his tune to say he would be happy wherever Shedeur landed. He has also said he would consider coaching in the NFL if he could work with his sons, so it's safe to assume that would be a frequent topic of conversation for both Deion and the coach of the NFL team in the media if the club that adds Shedeur is struggling.

There are no easy answers to explain why Shedeur is still available when he was regarded as a late-first-round-caliber prospect when the draft began.