Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders is headed to the NFL as a likely top-three pick this spring. His father and coach, Deion Sanders, has also proven his mettle, developing not only a standout quarterback but also a two-way star in Travis Hunter and a standout safety in Shilo.
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Over the last few months, members of the media have taken it upon themselves to dream up all sorts of scenarios in which Deion and his son Shedeur reunite in the pros.
And for many reasons, that was always a long shot. Not only will that not happen (especially not with the most parroted landing spot, the Dallas Cowboys), but it shouldn’t happen, for both Deion and Shedeur’s sakes. Here’s why.
The Sanders must each follow their own paths
First things first: Deion Sanders has never been anything but adamant about his wish to remain in Boulder to continue building a serious contender out of his Colorado Buffaloes. Whenever the Cowboys theory was broached with him, he gave a short, negative response.
In one instance, he was being asked by former teammate Michael Irvin about the Dallas deal, and he interrupted the question to show Irvin and company where he was (Colorado’s football facility) while repeating “I love where I am”.
Sanders turned a 1-11 team in 2022 into a 9-3 team with a national ranking and secured a bowl-game berth in 2024. He’s just started to mold this program in his image, and he likely has designs on turning Colorado into a powerhouse before all is said and done. That’s what they were in the 1990s, after all.
It’s not like they’re paying Deion pennies, either. His five-year, $29.5 million deal with Colorado already pays him more than all but 12 NFL head coaches. Coach Prime has also shown time and time again that he can lure the very best recruits to Boulder. He did it with Travis Hunter, and he did it again recently, convincing five-star 2025 QB recruit Julian Lewis to spurn much bigger programs for the greener pastures of Boulder.
Deion’s impact on his players as human beings cannot be discounted either. While he has clearly done well with Shedeur, he has been coaching his son since high school. Shedeur is 22 now, and surely no longer views himself as his father’s son, but as his own man. No doubt he was hoping that college graduation also meant the opportunity to create his own name separate from his father.
Shedeur spoke about living in his father’s shadow with Zlatan Ibrahimović. The youngster clearly agreed with what the iconic footballer was saying: don’t compare yourself to your dad. If Shedeur wants to escape comparisons, getting drafted to an NFL team not coached by his larger-than-life father would be a start.
It’s also worth noting that while the Cowboys reunion would be fun, it’s darn near impossible. The team is paying a QB $60 million a year already, and they still have to pay edge rusher Micah Parsons.
As they pointed out on Get Up ESPN, Parsons is most certainly getting a max deal from Jerry Jones in 2025. The 5-7 Cowboys would also likely have to trade up to nab Sanders at this point. That reduces the likelihood of this theory coming to fruition down to about zero.
The shortest odds to be selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft belong to Shedeur (+125). The teams most likely to land him are the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders. Both are iconic franchises that Shedeur likely wouldn’t mind joining. However, there’s no chance Deion would want to get involved in another major rebuild so soon after completing the one he did in Boulder.
Neither Shedeur nor Deion has ever stated or even implied that they would reunite in the NFL. Clearly, father and son’s paths are diverging for now. Hopefully, the media can move past theorizing and dreaming and focus on discussing the actual next steps for the quarterback and coach.
