Sports

Deion Sanders Explained Why Shedeur Didn't Hire An Agent Before NFL Draft Fall

It's been a little over a year since Shedeur Sanders' now-infamous fall in the 2025 NFL Draft, going from what many considered to be the second-best QB in the draft and a top-five prospect in a fifth-round pick. There were a lot of narratives that went into and came out of the draft, one of which his famous father Deion Sanders decided to address.

In an interview with Garrett Bush of The Barbershop, the Colorado head coach admitted that seeing Shedeur deal with so many false narratives about him leading up to the draft hurt him emotionally.

Coach Prime then addressed the longstanding question of why he didn't hire an agent to combat those narratives, stating that since Shedeur was projected to go in the first two rounds, it didn't seem worth it to sacrifice several percentage points from his contract when "you know where you're slotted."

"That was the first time in my life that I couldn't fix it," Deion said. "I've always been able to fix it, with all my kids. But as that bulljunk was going on and everything was - I couldn't fix it. And he wanted me to fix it. And I didn't have the power to fix it. And that hurt, because I felt like I wasn't there for my son. Why we didn't have an agent? Well, you're projected to go what, first or second, right?

"I've been through this. So why do you need that? You know, it don't make sense to give somebody four or five percent - three percent, whatever they get now - and you know where you're slotted."

Unfortunately, the Sanders family didn't seem to "know" where Shedeur was slotted and the end result was a rather humiliating couple of days for the former Colorado quarterback.

And while there's no guarantee that having an agent could have prevented or even mitigated Shedeur falling wildly below all projections, it seems like having one at least in the short term could have been a help.

The Browns ultimately stopped Shedeur's fall, taking him in the fifth round. He went on to get the starting job midway through the season and was named a Pro Bowl alternate.

 Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throws a pass in the first quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throws a pass in the first quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.

Clearing the Air

Coach Prime also took a moment to clear the air over the long-held belief that he was ready to accept a coaching job at whichever team wound up drafting Shedeur. He famously said in 2025 that "the only way I would consider (the NFL) is to coach my sons."

But Sanders walked back that comment, reaffirming his love of the University of Colorado and the players he coaches. He stated point-blank that he isn't trying to take anyone's job in the NFL or coach in the NFL at all.

"I never wanted their job. I love Colorado, man. I love my kids that I have in that locker room. I love the staff. I love all of it. I ain't trying to coach in no NFL. And I think a couple people may have thought that. And they thought if they brought him in, it would be that."

Glad that's settled.

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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 6:21 PM.

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