Draft talk is starting to heat up around the NFL and for the Raiders that means more conversation around which quarterback is going to be wearing Silver & Black at the end of April.
With the no. 6 pick in the draft, the Raiders don’t look to be in a great spot to get one of the top two quarterbacks in the draft, but local beat writer Vinny Bonsignore thinks the stars are beginning to line up for Shedeur Sanders to ultimately end up in Las Vegas.
In an article this week, Bonsignore projected Sanders to get past the quarterback-needy teams ahead of the Raiders in the draft and fall to the Raiders with the sixth pick.
“This scenario seemed unlikely one month ago. But with Miami’s Cam Ward now being viewed as the top quarterback prospect and teams at the top of the draft favoring the perceived certainty of more instant-impact prospects, Sanders falls right into the Raiders’ lap at No. 6. They sit tight and get their franchise quarterback without having to mortgage their future,” Bonsignore wrote in his Las Vegas Review-Journal mock draft this week.
Bonsignore followed up on his draft projection in a segment on the team’s flagship radio station.
“I have a feeling that this might be the Raiders fortunate draft; [their] lucky day where you don’t have to trade up and you don’t have to mortgage your future,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate on Monday.
“The way things are kind of lining up with some dominant players at the top of the draft this year, the generational players that the Tennessee Titans new general manager doesn’t want to pass up on,” Bonsignore continued. “I think there’s an actual chance that Shedeur Sanders is going to drop to no. 6 and the Raiders are going to stand pat and wait for Shedeur Sanders, the great young quarterback from the University of Colorado to fall to them.”
Sanders was on the sideline during the East-West Shrine Bowl last week and talked about playing at AT&T Stadium ‘very soon’ in his NFL career.
“Being in this stadium is definitely fun,” Sanders said. “I know I’ll play here very soon against the Cowboys. But… it’s definitely a dream come true, being able to be at this bowl game, watching my brothers out there, watching my teammates out there, being a part of this whole thing that’s going on.”
Most believe Sanders’ comments were a reference to the Giants, but the Cowboys also have the Raiders on their schedule in 2025 – although that game will be at Allegiant Stadium.
Deion Sanders has talked about getting involved in where his sons play in the NFL, but he has downplayed some of those comments in recent months. Nevertheless, the elder Sanders did say again three weeks ago that there are teams he would not allow Shedeur to play for.
”It’s not who I would like for him to play for. It’s a couple teams that I won’t allow him to play for,” Sanders said on the Tamron Hall Show.
Many believe the Browns are a team Deion doesn’t want for Shedeur, and there’s a decent chance those opinions are accurate.
From a mailbag earlier in the week, Cleveland ESPN insider Tony Grossi left the door open on the idea that the Browns might be a team Sanders doesn’t want to play for.
“The Browns should draft Sanders only under two conditions,” Grossi said. “They believe he is the best QB in the draft and they have an understanding with Deion that he will not interfere in any way, now or in the future, with the development of Shedeur in the Browns’ organization. They should be cognizant of the fact that if [team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam] decide to make a coaching change if 2025 goes sideways, Deion will want to be the next coach of the Browns. For those reasons, the Browns have to be absolutely sure Shedeur is their next franchise QB. Otherwise, there will be trouble ahead.”
To this point, there have been theories about where Deion doesn’t want Shedeur to be drafted, but it’s clear they have been trying to keep the names of those teams from reaching the public.
For what it’s worth, Raider fans are torn on the idea of taking Sanders with the no. 6 pick.
Nearly half of Raider fans polled in this survey would be just as happy with Ohio State’s Will Howard in the third round…
x: @raidersbeat
Instead of Shedeur Sanders, what about Bernie Sanders.
We have made such Great Decisions and Hires so far this Offseason… Let’s hope that they DON”T pick a 3rd Round QB talent with Pick 6… Sheduer Sanders May be the 4th Best QB in a Non-Impressive QB Draft this Year. Pass and Pick a Real Difference Maker on the OL or DL…
Ward and Saunders will be gone. Best player available at 6 , running back from Boise state case closed. Pick a qb round 2 in milroe. Bridge qb veteran Darnold or Fields. Fields preferred.
No Rodger’s, no Daniels, no cousins …get it i don’t want broken down qb’s who are not at ALL mobile. No jones, no Minshew , no no no please. Rodger’s needs to RETIRE!!!!!!
If we can move up to the 1 pick, shock the NFL world. Pick WARD! Shaduer is over hiped by pa pa Saunders. Ward is worth going up to a 1 pick. He’s mobile and has a great arm and is the best qb available.
They shouldn’t draft a QB in the first round. Jeanty or Johnson (cb)