NFL Draft: NFL great rips Shedeur Sanders after draft free fall

The 2025 NFL Draft brought its fair share of surprises, but the Shedeur Sanders saga became a hotly debated topic.

The Cleveland Browns selected Sanders in the fifth round. Shortly after the selection, Sanders took to social media to share a short but emotional message: “Thank you GOD.” In the days since, many figures in the sports world and beyond have shared thoughts about why Sanders fell down the draft boards.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter is one of the latest former NFL stars to weigh in on the Sanders situation.

In what appeared to be his unfiltered take, Carter suggested Sanders sacrificed tens of millions of dollars due to his disposition and overall handling leading up to last week’s draft.

SHEDEUR SANDERS REVEALS DAD’S REACTION AS HE FELL TO 5TH ROUND OF NFL DRAFT

“(Sheduer and his family) thinking that he was in the same evaluation mode as Eli Manning, they didn’t play that right,” Carter said during a recent sitdown on the “Fully Loaded” podcast.

“Them trying to narrow the teams that he was going to go to? That didn’t go right. Not working out at the Combine? That wasn’t the right thing. His interview process. Obviously, he could’ve done a lot better than that. A lot of people left meetings feeling he was very, very entitled.”

The NFL legend also pushed back on the notion that the league colluded to prevent Sanders from becoming a high draft pick. Carter asserted that the former Colorado quarterback and his family “overplayed their hand.” 

“A number of things happened. The No. 1 thing that didn’t happen was there was not a collusion message with the NFL owners,” Carter stated. “They wouldn’t be able to keep a secret like that. They wouldn’t be able to shut up about it. Every owner is very, very selfish. Now, why would I do something to my detriment? Like, if I need a quarterback, and I think this kid is it? What he didn’t realize is, the guys that have fallen in the draft before, they all had unusual traits. They had some superstar qualities to them. Some other things happened that made them fall, but Shedeur and his family overplayed their hand.”

Carter did admit Sanders had intangibles that were worthy of a first-round pick, but not before he took aim at the quarterback’s physical traits.

“He doesn’t have a big-time arm. He’s not a big guy. He’s not overly athletic. His measurables are not, say, first-round measurables. But he played football like a first-rounder. … But you don’t play football all the time. You’re a human-being the rest of the time,” Carter said.

Sanders finished the 2024 season with 4,134 passing yards. He is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders. He will join a crowded quarterback room in Cleveland that features Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel.

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