Shedeur Sanders intentionally tanked interviews with certain NFL teams before NFL Draft slide

Question

There was significant speculation about Shedeur Sanders' poor performance in NFL Draft interviews, which many believed contributed to his unexpected fall all the way to the fifth round, where he was picked by the Browns. CBS Sports' NFL insider Jonathan Jones recently revealed that Sanders may have been selective in his interviews, and his father expressing way back of certain teams he would not "allow" his son Shedeur to play for. He reportedly "sandbagged" during meetings with certain teams he wasn’t interested in, potentially not putting in his best effort or taking them seriously.

Answer 1

This is a hard one to directly attribute a true/false label to, but based off the insider information attained by CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones and observational data over the years on how he acts/presents himself this would be a very likely situation to have occurred. In fact, his dad Deion was quoted saying "I know where I want them to go. So, there are certain cities that ain’t gonna happen…" back in 2024. With that mindset you can infer it would be likely there was some sandbagging involved to try and make it out of those places while interviewing with those respective teams. While you can lean one way with the information laid in front of you, only Shedeur himself can really say whether he was sandbagging his interviews or not. 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/shedeur-sanders-tanked-interviews-nfl-teams-draft-slide-report/3f01c4c84355e0b31e6b43fd 

https://nypost.com/2025/05/08/sports/nfl-execs-reveal-how-deion-sanders-influence-fueled-shedeurs-draft-slide/

Comments

You did the best job possible for a claim like this. Your sources seem to be reliable and the quote from his father is very insightful. I like how you name NFL insider Jonathan Jones as well.

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You did a great job with this fact check, stating that you could not directly infer whether Shedeur tanked his interviews on purpose or not as well as how you did your own research looking into Jonathan Jones and his dad Deion Sanders. Overall your fact check was very thorough and insightful.

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I think that you did well with the response to this claim. It is definitely a claim that we as the public will be unable to know the answer to, but you provided several sources, provided context for why someone could come to this claim, and then ended it off by representing the fact that this claim is not one that can be concrete as there is private information that we do not have access to that would be necessary to prove the claim true.

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Deion's comments and the sources you cited support the idea that they tried to direct Shedeur toward certain teams.    But I think you're relying too much on guesses because there's no hard proof that he ruined interviews and insider information can be twisted.  It's also not the same as sandbagging to ask for control over where you travel as Deion said.

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I agree with this take—it’s reasonable to infer that Shedeur Sanders may have intentionally underperformed in interviews to avoid landing with certain teams. The quotes from his father Deion Sanders, combined with insider reporting from CBS Sports and The New York Post, support the idea. While we can’t confirm intent without Shedeur’s word, the evidence strongly points in that direction.

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This is a very difficult claim to prove as there is no black or white evidence on wether or not Shedeur Sanders did purposly do bad in interviews with teams. I think that you did the best that you could with the information and I agree with your conclusion.

Answer 2

This claim originates from a CBS Sports article by NFL insider Jonathan Jones, published in May 2024, which reports that sources around the league believe Shedeur Sanders may have deliberately “sandbagged” or tanked interviews with NFL teams he wasn’t interested in playing for. According to Jones: “There was a belief around the league that Shedeur Sanders tanked some interviews with teams he didn’t want to go to, hoping to steer his draft destination.” (CBS Sports, May 2024)

However, this is based on anonymous league speculation, not on any confirmed statements from Shedeur Sanders or his camp. Neither Shedeur nor Deion Sanders has publicly admitted to this, and there is no video, transcript, or direct reporting of interview behavior to confirm that he deliberately performed poorly.

Deion Sanders has previously made public statements suggesting he doesn’t want his sons playing for just any team. In 2023, he said, “We ain’t going to no bad organizations. I ain't sending my kids nowhere where I wouldn’t want to go myself.” (USA Today, June 2023) That adds context — it’s plausible Shedeur may have been selective, but there is no hard evidence he intentionally tanked interviews, nor that this directly caused a draft slide.

Additionally, the claim incorrectly states that Shedeur Sanders was drafted by the Browns. That is false. As of May 2025, Shedeur Sanders is still in college at Colorado and has not entered the NFL Draft. He announced in December 2023 that he would return for another season. (ESPN, Dec. 2023)

While there is some reporting that teams suspect Shedeur Sanders may have strategically underperformed in interviews, there is no direct proof or statement confirming this behavior. The claim about a draft slide and being picked by the Browns is factually incorrect.

Sources:

CBS Sports: "Shedeur Sanders falling in NFL Draft a reflection of how Colorado QB, Deion Sanders handled pre-draft process" PFSN+15CBSSports.com+15Wikipedia+15 

Bleacher Report: "Shedeur Sanders Reportedly 'Sandbagged' Some NFL Combine Interviews, Upset Teams" Bleacher Repor

Yahoo Sports: "Shedeur Sanders ripped by anonymous coach before NFL Draft" Reddit+1Yahoo Sports+1

• New York Post: "Shedeur Sanders 'sandbagged' NFL draft interviews with teams he didn't like" New York Post

• ESPN: "Shedeur Sanders not selected in first round of NFL draft" ESPN.com

Answer 3

Although there is a lot of speculation that Shedeur Sanders purposely tanked interviews, I do not think it is possible for the public to confirm or deny this. However many of the sources I read do think that he has sandbagged some of his interviews. One example is from CBS sports Jonathon Jones where he explains that he was told Shedeur did not give his all in some of the interviews and it could be for multiple reasons such as not being interested in the team or the team having a starting quarterback already. I also think Shedeurs dad, Deion Sanders, had a strong influence on where he wanted to play and may have gotten over-involved. Another article explains that since Deion was the head coach at Colorado he had watched Shedeur develop as a player and gave him lots of advice. Although I think part of the reason that Shedeur dramatically fell in the draft was due to some lack of interest during the interviews, I think there is also several other factors to consider. Overall I think the only person that can confirm or deny this debate is Shedeur Sanders himself.

https://www.si.com/nfl/report-shedeur-sanders-purposely-tanked-pre-draft-interviews-with-teams-he-didnt-like

https://www.marca.com/en/ncaa/2025/05/09/681dee4922601dbe5b8b45e4.html

Answer 4

I agree I don't think Shedeur purposely went in with bad intentions when he had his interviews because I then that would ultimately ruin his career. This article I found stated that his off the field persona and due to his ego not to many teams thought he would be a good teammate and thought he wouldn't have respect. It mentions how he automatically thought he would've had been first round pick material because who his father is but thats why coaches didn't really want that to be apart of there team.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6311419/2025/04/26/why-shedeur-sanders-not-drafted-yet/

Answer 5

The claim that Sanders intentionally tanked his interviews with certain NFL teams before NFL Draft is pure speculation. However, if we had to attribute a true/false answer to this statement it would be false. This is due to the expectations that Sanders had himself before the draft. Sanders had a private "draft room" made with hats from all of the teams he expected to be drafted to in the first round. He had his brand name on top of the shelf. This was seen all over social media. Furthermore, the actions seen in Sanders' interviews replicated his attitude as a person and a player back at Colorado. In an interview at the NFL Combine, Sanders was quoted saying "We went from Jackson State to Colorado and changed two programs back to back, so you don't think I can come to an NFL franchise and change a program again? It's history. We done it again. It's always going to repeat itself." This type of confidence and attitude could easily have translated into interviews with teams leading to the slide in the draft...not that he "intentionally tanked" them. Here are links to the draft room and the Combine interview.

Draft Room

Combine Interview

Comments

I think this is a good fact check. I think selecting can't be true or false is a fair selection with your fact check. You provided good evidence that there were not intentions from Sanders, but just his attitude. This claim is bold and your fact check proved it wrong.

Answer 6

This claim from CBS NFL insider jonathan Jones reports that anonymous NFL team personnel believed Shedeuer "sandbagged" some combine interviews with teams he wasn't interested in. These claims are based on anonymous sources and are not confirmed by Sanders himself or his representitives. The article also does not provide direct evidence that Sanders intentionally performed poorly to hurt his draft stock. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25190535-shedeur-sanders-reportedly-sandbagged-some-nfl-combine-interviews-upset-teams?utm_source

Answer 7

I believe that Shedeur did tank interviews with teams he didn't like. Even though I believe he did, does not mean that he did. According to the article that you listed, the reporter said that he "may" have done poorly on purpose. There are always speculations until there is evidential proof that he did tank those interviews. Every website is using the same evidence of the CBS reporter meaning that no one else has any information on if Shedeur did actually tank those interviews. From the knowledge that I have, the Giants, Saints, Steelers, Raiders, Jets and even the team he is on now, the Browns passed on him. Given that information it is possible he just didn't do well in any of the interviews that he had. The teams I just listed besides maybe the jets, all needed a young quarterback to fill their future slot. Not getting picked by teams that don't have a quarterback is a sign that he just maybe didn't do well in the interview and his ego was to high. Also those other teams took quarterbacks other than him. There is no clear evidence that he tanked but there can definitely be speculations.

Answer 8

Though the article this is sourced from is correct; I do want to reiterate that these are all rumors. The person that sourcing this news is CBS Sports' NFL "insider" Jonathan Jones. I can't credit where Jonathan got his sources from and if they are creditable or not. In this article and the one by pro football and sports network there are many speculations about why Mr. Sanders may have dropped in the NFL draft. It could have been his jersey  number was already retired, he wasn't giving his all in the interviews and he wasn't committed to every team. I just can't trust the sources given since we won't know the really reason unless they are from the 32 NFL general managers and scouts themselves. 

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl-insider-claims-shedeur-sanders-sandbagged-combine-meetings/

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/shedeur-sanders-tanked-interviews-nfl-teams-draft-slide-report/3f01c4c84355e0b31e6b43fd

Answer 9

Although you have great reasons, explanations, and sources there is no real way for anyone in the public to know why a prospect like Shedeur Sanders was dropped all the way to the fifth round. They're could be multiple reasons one being the interviews like you said and others could be that they say something they didn't like in his play style, or GMs thinking he could just possibly be a bust in the NFL. 

Answer 10

I feel like there is no true label for this situation. There obviously is a lot of speculation regarding Shedeur and his draft placement but there has been no evidence of this specifically happening mentioned by Shedeur himself. Although there have been reports from inside sources regarding Shedeur's actions, we will never truly know unless he speaks out about it himself. A big assumption towards this is the attitude that Shedeur and the Sander name might bring with his skill set. But this might not be the full case, "On Friday, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported that most NFL decision makers he spoke to were "more concerned with Sanders' talent than anything off the field." Unless a big personality comes out with more information, we will not know what happened in the draft, and more importantly we most likely won't get both sides of the story.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25190535-shedeur-sanders-reportedly-sandbagged-some-nfl-combine-interviews-upset-teams