Cris Carter rips Shedeur Sanders NFL Draft mistakes, shuts down collusion argument

Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter ripped Shedeur Sanders for the mistakes the young quarterback made throughout the 2025 NFL Draft process. The former Minnesota Vikings superstar wide receiver didn’t want to hear any arguments of collusion, putting all the blame on the new Cleveland Browns fifth round pick.

On the latest episode of Fully Loaded, Carter went into detail on the subject while speaking with his partner in entrepreneur Shawn Meaike. He went as far as to say Sanders threw away $30 to $50 million with his attitude and lack of preparation, and the NFL legend pushed back on the notion that the league colluded against Sanders, as well.

“A number of things happened. The No. 1 thing that didn’t happen was there was not a collusion message with the NFL owners,” Carter stated. “They wouldn’t be able to keep a secret like that. They wouldn’t be able to shut up about it. Every owner is very, very selfish. Now, why would I do something to my detriment? Like, if I need a quarterback, and I think this kid is it? What he didn’t realize is, the guys that have fallen in the draft before, they all had unusual traits. They had some superstar qualities to them. Some other things happened that made them fall, but Shedeur and his family overplayed their hand.

“Them, thinking that he was in the same evaluation mode as Eli Manning, they didn’t play that right. Them trying to narrow the teams that he was going to go to? That didn’t go right. Not working out at the Combine? That wasn’t the right thing. His interview process. Obviously, he could’ve done a lot better than that. A lot of people left meetings feeling he was very, very entitled.”

While Carter believes Sanders’ tape was worthy of being a premium pick, everything else contributed to his fall over the weekend: “He doesn’t have a big-time arm. He’s not a big guy. He’s not overly athletic. His measurables are not, say, first-round measurables. But he played football like a first-rounder. … But you don’t play football all the time. You’re a human-being the rest of the time,” Carter added.

“How you’re going to be in the locker room. He already came up with this line of merchandise, Legendary. Like, he’s already calling himself legendary. All those things are problems. Right now, he’s working check to check, man. He’s not going to get a big signing bonus. He’s not going to get a big guarantee. Any day they want to get rid of him of the week, they can get rid of him.”

Cris Carter: NFL Draft taught Deion Sanders, Shedeur that they ‘ain’t running shit’

Alas, Carter doesn’t believe Sanders learned the necessary lessons throughout the process, and this humbling experience was needed for him: “I listened to too many of his answers. I saw too many of the outtakes. I saw too many times, when he’s working out with other players, and he said things that I thought were highly questionable for my franchise quarterback,” he proclaimed. “Like, when he was working out with Cam Ward — Cam Ward, the No.1 pick, ‘Hey, man, you want to cut a rap video together? No, I want to be known as a football player.’

“Something these kids never understand, even if you’re a top ten pick, you’re in the NFL for a long time. So your interview, your tape, people in the room — someone can like you in the room. They might not draft you, but five, ten years later? Man, you’re looking for a guy, you’re looking to trade, and they remember your interview. It’s a small world. This whole thing with Deion and the media and everything, it’s out of control. It did not help him. It helped him make money in college, because you’ve got followers, but it actually hurt him, as far as him getting a job as an NFL quarterback.

“… Let me tell you what he understands today, he ain’t running shit. They taught him a great lesson. Like, you don’t have this figured out. Your dad doesn’t have this figured out. … For his job interview, he was so concerned about what his outfit was, his necklace being over 100-grand. Like, he hadn’t even convinced people that you’re the face of our franchise. Matter of fact, he had convinced people that they were better off going in a different direction, even with people who had lesser talent.

“That’s the rub he put on the people. It’s the case. He didn’t get drafted right. It’s no speculation. Like, we’re through the draft. He threw away at least $30 to $50 million. At least.”

All told, Cris Carter kept it real when speaking on Shedeur Sanders. All that the former Colorado star can do now is keep his head down and work to prove each and every team that passed on him wrong. He’ll have that opportunity in Cleveland, but whether he seizes it or not with the Browns remains to be seen.