Over the weekend, the Cleveland Browns hosted their three-day rookie minicamp, where the team’s 2025 NFL draft picks, undrafted free agents, and tryout players got their first taste of NFL practices.
One of those players was Shedeur Sanders, who, despite being a fifth-round draft pick, continues to be the talk of the league.
Jason Whitlock speculates that the undeserved hype surrounding Sanders could be the very reason so many teams passed on him.
“The amount of attention, the over-the-top adulation that is being given to a fifth-round draft choice right now, I think a lot of teams are looking at that and going, ‘That’s exactly why he was off our board,”’ says “Fearless” contributor Steve Kim.
Jason agrees, displaying an X post from a Shedeur fan praising him as a “good teammate” and “solid person” just because he took a picture with the tryout players. Other posts have sensationalized his minicamp performance and highlighted volunteer work he’s done, such as visiting a high school.
“Some of this stuff on Twitter makes me think, like, this is bought-and-paid-for PR,” says Jason, speculating that these types of social media posts are “not organic” but rather a Deion-orchestrated PR campaign to rehab Shedeur’s reputation after his draft slide due to concerns about his attitude.
While this facilitated hype around Shedeur might have fueled some of the distaste certain NFL teams felt toward him, the PR strategies might end up working to his advantage in the end.
If Shedeuer ends up being a backup quarterback behind Dillon Gabriel, this hype could increase his trade value and make him desirable to other teams if their starting quarterback sustains an injury.
Jason thinks that’s exactly what Deion and Shedeur are hoping for if he doesn’t land the starting position.
“Deion and Shedeur and their marketing team realized that Shedeur’s reputation and the way he carried himself cost him 30, 40, 50 million dollars, and they’re trying to rehabilitate this guy’s image as a good teammate and a can’t-miss talent,” says Jason. “I think they’re hoping that someone has an injury during pre-season or early in the season and Shedeur has some trade value.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.
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