Shedeur Sanders was mentored by Tom Brady once, which led many to believe the Las Vegas Raiders, where TB12 is a minority owner, would select the Colorado star in the 2025 NFL Draft. With Shedeur on the field and Brady in the box (and on the sideline, at times), it seemed like the perfect match. It would have been an opportunity for the young QB to learn from the GOAT himself.
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But as we know now, Vegas snubbed Shedeur at every turn. Finally, the Cleveland Browns put Shedeur out of his misery, picking him at #144 in the fifth round. So why did Brady ignore his former mentee? What soured the relationship between one generational talent and another, who was considered by many — at least before the draft — to be the next superstar?
Brady hasn’t quite spoken up about Shedeur yet. But he has shared his insight into the draft and how to build an NFL team from it. That offers a clue or two about the Shedeur snub.
In his newsletter this week, Brady explained why he has a “soft spot” for the NFL Draft. He shared how it gets him thinking about building a winning team and how he’s excited to see which young rookies fit with their squads.
Brady also declared that he doesn’t pay much attention to the pundits and analysts who hand out draft grades. In fact, he joked that he lines his cat’s litter box with them! He pointed out that teams can carry up to 90 players in training camp for 53 roster spots.
“By the beginning of September, decisions will have to be made. Some guys will stick, [and] some will fall away,” wrote Brady. The former QB then delved into how he goes about evaluating the draft and draft picks, highlighting the qualities he believes are ideal for building a team.
“And we won’t know exactly who until the demands of playing this game at the highest level reveal the aspects of their character that are the most important to building a winning team: determination, competitiveness, resilience, perseverance, humility, integrity, [and] intelligence,” Brady listed, before touching on an important aspect beyond the attributes of players: the “team’s culture”— something that could especially resonate with Shedeur.
“I don’t care if you were the last guy signed or the first guy picked, on winning teams, these are the traits that are going to matter most,” added Brady. “A team’s draft picks and free agent signings are a window into its culture, for better and for worse.”
Brady clearly emphasizes that for a player, character matters more than skills. Perhaps that’s what he and the Vegas front office didn’t quite find in Shedeur. They made their seventh pick with the 135th overall in the fourth round to draft DT Tonka Hemingway, and at the time, Shedeur was still available.
If the Raiders saw potential in Shedeur, they would have snatched him up sooner rather than later, especially considering the team’s depth at QB. Geno Smith isn’t getting any younger.
Brady then drew the example of his old team, the Patriots, where champions were prioritized over stars. He listed guys like Tedy Bruschi, Julian Edelman, Dont’a Hightower, and Wes Welker as the selfless “we/us” guys. Bill Belichick wanted to instill a winning mindset and culture in the locker room. And it started with drafting and trading for selfless players.
“When things are going well and everyone is aligned, it’s easy to see a team’s culture on full display like that: from draft picks and free agents, to re-signings and cuts, to coaching hires, to practice habits and playing philosophy. Everything just makes sense,” revealed Brady.
That said, we have to also remember that Brady is just a minority owner. While his words of advice should carry weight in the Vegas front office, he doesn’t have the final say in who they draft.
It’s possible that Brady wasn’t even heavily involved in the selection process. So, we shouldn’t assume the snubbing of Shedeur by the Raiders was Brady’s doing.
Maybe Brady did want Shedeur, but the team chose to go a different direction. We may never know.
