The 2025 NFL Draft is rapidly approaching, and there are already a ton of rumors surrounding Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The former Buffs and Jackson State signal-caller is expected to hear his name called on the first night of the draft, with many projections expecting him to go No. 3 overall to the New York Giants.
But with the draft almost here, as with several highly-touted prospects, the rumor mill has been swirling about where he will end up. TSN's Vinnie Iyer likes Shedeur to go No. 2 overall to the New Orleans Saints via a trade with the Cleveland Browns.
Let's take a look at the latest rumors surrounding Sanders and see what's being said.
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Shedeur Sanders rumors: Latest news on 2025 NFL Draft projection
Shedeur Sanders, Giants workout "did go well", per report
- Date: April 18
- Source: Jeremy Fowler, ESPN
The Giants hosted Sanders for a private workout on Thursday. Early indications are Sanders had a strong showing in the endeavor; ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported that Sanders responded well to Brian Daboll's instructions throughout the day.
"I'm told it did go well," Fowler said on SportsCenter. "I'm told that head coach Brian Daboll likes to put those quarterbacks in private workouts in adverse situations, different situations, get them out of their comfort zone of a normal pro day setting. So, all of that was good. Otherwise, the Giants are not saying a thing about these workouts."
Fowler added that the expectation is New York — who holds the No. 3 pick in this year's draft — looks at another position when it's on the clock. There's a possibility that the Giants trade back in the first round to find a hurler, however.
Shedeur Sanders working out for Giants on Thursday
- Date: April 17
- Source: Ian Rapoport, NFL Network
The Giants are working out Sanders on Thursday, Ian Rapoport reports, with Jalen Milroe and Tyler Shough up next.
While New York is far from guaranteed to take a QB with the No. 3 overall pick, the franchise is leaving the door open by doing its homework on a handful of prospects.
Giants holding private workout with Sanders week before draft
- Date: April 15
- Source: Jordan Schultz
Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported that the Giants are hosting late workouts with Sanders in the week leading up to the draft. He added that the team, which has quarterbacks Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Tommy DeVito on its roster, will also work out Louisville's Tyler Shough and Alabama's Jalen Milroe.
Although the timing of the late workouts may suggest that the Giants are going to target one of those QBs at different points in the draft, New York GM Joe Shoen dismissed the notion. While speaking to the media on April 16, Shoen said the decision to work out Sanders so late boiled down to pure scheduling.
“It's a unique calendar year," Schoen said via Sports Illustrated. "I think the draft is as early as it can be, that Thursday in April being the 24th."
“If you're speaking specifically of Colorado, their Pro Day was April 4," he continued. "With the April 4 Pro Day of Colorado, we were already in meetings. When I left you guys at the owners' meetings (at the end of March), we started (draft meetings) that Wednesday. That's how the calendar is for us every year.
“It was unusual that a Pro Day was that late, and we had to stop meetings to go to Boulder. But these private workouts have been in place.”
It does seem unlikely at this point that the Giants will take a quarterback early in this year's draft, but there's no question New York working out three quarterbacks ahead of Thursday evening's draft means it is at least considering doing so.
Several coaches and scouts don't believe Sanders is a first-round talent.
- Date: April 14
- Source: Albert Breer
The week before the draft, Albert Breer wrote in his Sports Illustrated NFL Takeaways that he has been hearing many scouts and coaches don't believe Sanders will go in the top 10. He adds that a lot of it has to do with what the quarterback has shown on tape:
I’m having a really hard time finding coaches or scouts who believe Sanders is a first-round talent. This, by the way, is separate from any issue anyone has with his personality. Those questions exist, but lots of teams have made exceptions in that department in the past to take on guys with special talents.
The problem seems to be that too many folks don’t think Sanders has those types of gifts.
What I keep hearing—and this has nothing to do with anyone having some personal issue with Sanders, or looking for him to fall in the draft so they can draft him—is that he isn’t a great athlete on tape, doesn’t have exceptional arm talent, and too often does things that simply won’t translate to the NFL game.
Breer added that he doesn't believe Sanders will get picked inside the top 10. Although Sanders has been heavily linked to the likes of the Giants, Browns, and even Raiders, it would be shocking to see him fall out of the first round. Falling outside of the top 10 doesn't appear to be that much out of the realm of possibility.
"I can't think of a more difficult quarterback case study" -says one NFL scout of Sanders
- Date: April 16
- Source: ESPN
In a feature story ahead of the draft on Sanders, written by ESPN's Kalyn Kahler, one veteran NFL scout spoke about the difficulties in evaluating Sanders.
"I can't think of a more difficult quarterback case study," a veteran NFL scout told Kahler. "To try and come to a conclusion whether or not I believe he's going to succeed to the level he'll get drafted," a veteran NFL scout told ESPN.
While there's no question Sanders seems likely to be drafted high, it appears as though several scouts' evaluation of him is pretty all over the place. That makes it even more intriguing as to where he may end up come draft night.
Sanders criticized for NFL Combine interviews
- Date: Monday after the combine
- Sources: Josina Anderson, Matthew Berry, The Athletic
Sanders attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month. Although he did not throw or participate in the on-field workouts at all, he did have a chance to meet with several teams. The combine is a critical part of teams' evaluation process since it provides one of the few opportunities to meet with players one-on-one.
Sanders' performance in his combine interview didn't exactly get the best feedback. NFL insider Josina Anderson reported that one quarterback coach described the quarterback as "brash and arrogant:"
I am disappointed to hear that a quarterbacks coach from a team drafting in the top 7 referred to Shedeur Sanders as coming off “brash” and “arrogant” in his team interview and making his assessment known to a number of people, per source. I’m purposely not naming the team, as… pic.twitter.com/OjCTciEZIa
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 3, 2025
NBC Sports' Matthew Berry added that Sanders came off both unprofessional and disinterested.
"I spoke with two people on two different teams that met with Sanders," Berry wrote. "And completely independently of each other, they had the exact same things to say. They both said it was a bad meeting and that he came off as unprofessional and disinterested. Both also said that after the meeting they had a lesser opinion of him than prior. These same people both met with Cam Ward as well, and both said they loved Ward, and it was a great meeting."
Berry did add that Cleveland came off very interested in Sanders. The Athletic's Mike Sando also added that the quarterback "hit the wrong notes" in the interviews:
Some teams will be scared off of Sanders.
“Not because of the kid, but because of the dad (Deion Sanders), the social media stuff and how it’s about him, not the team,” another exec said.
This rumors tracker will be updated as the NFL Draft gets closer.