Leading up to the draft, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was linked to a number of NFL teams, but going back to December, no team was connected to Shedeur more than the Raiders.
The Sanders family has strong ties to minority owner Tom Brady and many believed Deion Sanders wanted his son to play for Brady and the Raiders.
Ultimately, Brady and company chose to (repeatedly) pass on Shedeur in the draft, and Raiders’ superfan Ice Cube offered his opinion on why it played out that way this week on The Skip Bayless Show.
“It did bother me. I wanted him, but I understand,” Ice Cube said. “I can see from a coach’s point of view why not to take him, because you take him, you don’t have a good season or two, Deion’s getting your job. I think a lot of coaches were like ‘Nah, I don’t want to draft my replacement.'”
“I think that might have been the biggest reason why he slipped. It wasn’t because of how he plays on the field. It was probably because they was scared to lose they job to Deion Sanders.”
Ice Cube brought up a few relevant details on the Sanders situation, but there were a lot of factors to why Shedeur fell to the fifth round of the draft.
Given Brady’s business and personal relationships with the Sanders family, it wasn’t a good sign that the Raiders seemingly had no interest in drafting Shedeur.
Brady was asked last week on the ‘Impaulsive’ podcast about Shedeur’s fall in the draft and his response was remarkably diplomatic.
“That’s a good question. I wasn’t a part of any evaluation process,” Brady said after an awkward pause.
“I actually texted Shedeur because I know him very well and I said ‘Dude, whatever happens, wherever you go, that’s your first day. Day 2 matters more than the draft. I was [pick] 199. Who could speak on it better than me? Use that as motivation. You’re going to get your chances. Go take advantage of them.’”
It wasn’t a great sales job by Brady, and NBC Sports’ host Mike Florio commented on Brady’s remarks the day after.
From Florio via PFT Live…
“Brady is very unconvincing as he stammers and stutters his way through until he gets to, it’s a good question… Anyone who remembers the initial Deflategate press conference, Tom Brady is a horrible liar, which is good. I’d rather deal with somebody who’s a horrible liar than a really good liar, because with a really good liar, it’s like trying to figure out what owes the mentalist is up to.
With a bad liar, we at least know he’s full of sh*t. He kind of knows he’s full of sh*t, but he’s saying what he has to say, and we can make sense of it. He doesn’t want to affect his relationship with Shedeur Sanders. Of course, he was involved in the evaluation of the quarterbacks. Of course, Tom Brady. That’s one of the reasons why he has a sweetheart deal, to buy the team for peanuts in comparison to its market value.”
Assuming Florio is correct, and most would presumably agree with him…
Why did Brady, who knows Shedeur better than most, pass on the “second best quarterback in this year’s rookie class” nine times in the draft?
Ice Cube would say the Deion Sanders dynamic came into play, but it’s worth noting that not everyone has been enthusiastic about Shedeur’s game film since the start of the draft process.
The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen was mocked on his own podcast for suggesting Shedeur might not be a first round pick.
Credit to Nguyen for trusting his eyes and cutting through all the pre-draft smoke and hype…
On a note that has nothing to do with the Raiders… it sounds like the Browns weren’t in agreement on drafting Shedeur in the fifth round.
Based on the immediate reactions of the GM and head coach in Cleveland, it’s hard to buy into the notion that team owner Jimmy Haslam didn’t jump in and force the team to draft Shedeur.
Additionally, audio leaked a few weeks ago seemed to show Deion Sanders saying he didn’t want Shedeur to end up with the Browns.
Safe to say, there are already signs pointing to the situation in Cleveland getting worse for Shedeur a lot sooner than they are going to get better.
x: @raidersbeat
Right Ice Cube. Deion is on the short list of NFL HC jobs. I mean if your quarterback plays well, you’re gonna keep the job as HC.
Deion belongs in the NCAA. He can recruit then you say goodbye after 4 years.
I’ve been a Raider fan for quite a long time and I feel like to have a great season you need to have a quarterback that is that’s at least six four or six five and that’s good to run for a first down that’s one or two yards out instead of putting it all the pressure on the running back each time and a quarterback that can see Over The Line without happening look through the windows and I know about football pretty good.
From what I found doing research the big QB’s don’t do as well as they used to. Used to be 6’3 6”4 QB’s was and still is by some to be the standard. History has recently shown that’s not the case anymore
I doubt Carroll is worried about losing his job to Dieon he will be 75 this year 50/50 chance he decides to retire before he gets fired. The Raiders passed on Sanders for reasons other than the lurking Shadow of Dieon. Ice Cubes theory might be more of a thing for other teams. New Orleans for example. As a rookie HC I wouldn’t want the shadow of Pappa Sanders lurking in the back ground either. The fact that New Orleans took Shough who will be a 26 year old rookie at #40 over Sanders may of may not say something.
Given his Age I don’t buy the Carroll is worried about possibly being reply by Pappa Sanders. Odds are high by sometime between 27-29 the Raiders are looking for a new HC regardless.
Ice Cubes theory may or may not be an actual fear for other teams.
It will actually be interesting to see how Sanders does playing for a HC other than his father.
What a dumb theory!
Maybe if he would have won more games and made the playoffs. Week QB class.
I don’t think Ice Cube is correct at all about the reason he was passed over by the Raiders and EVERY OTHER TEAM multiple times. I happen to like the kid and I saw him play many times over the last couple years. Cam Ward to me maybe the better of the two but not by much. The Raiders need so many players because of all the INSANE DRAFTING they have been doing for the last few years. For the last 10 years the Raiders couldn’t even draft beer much less any NFL players. The only first round pick still on the roster over the last 10 years or so is Kolton Miller. Not a single other one is still on the roster. That is what you call TERRIBLE DRAFTING!! They had a good chance to be competitive but blew it. They got 2 or 3 first round picks for Mack and blew them all except Josh Jacobs. The rest are in jail or not in the league. Can you say Alex Leatherwood?? Just one of the poor choices we have made. Many Many more have been made before and after…