Steelers beat writer says the quiet part out loud about why the team didn't draft Shedeur Sanders

USA Today

20 hours ago

Steelers beat writer says the quiet part out loud about why the team didn't draft Shedeur Sanders
The biggest story of the 2025 NFL draft was the draft slide of quarterback Shedeur Sanders. NFL draft writers and pundits were banging the table all weekend long about the injustice to Sanders when he fell out of the first round, then the second, then the third, then the fourth until he finally landed with the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round. Many writers, most notably ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., were gobsmacked about how the Pittsburgh Steelers could let Sanders slip through their fingers multiple times and opt for other picks.
But as we said then and as we say not, don't overthink it. There was no grand conspiracy and Sanders slide had as much to do with his skills and anything else. This was the sentiment passed on by Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo on 93.7 TheFan.
Fittipaldo offerd some exceptional insight on the Steelers thinking during the draft and it was fairly basic stuff that put it all into perspective.
"I think mostly, it had to do with, they didn't have a grade on him within the first five rounds," Fittipaldo said. "I think the second part of that equation, and this was never really discussed, you've seen some leaks with other teams across the NFL. Now, a lot of people just didn't want to deal with Deion Sanders and what that might be down the road after he's done at Colorado. So, I don't know if the Steelers felt that same way, but they did not have a top-five grade. A top-five round grade on Shedeur Sanders, and that's why they went the route they went.'
Read that carefully. "A lot of people just didn't want to deal with Deion Sanders and what that might be down the road after he's gone at Colorado." This hints at the idea floated by Deion that he wants to coach his son in the NFL someday. You really think head coach Mike Tomlin is going to sign off on drafting the player whose dad wants to take his job? Maybe if Sanders had been a legitimate first-round talent who fell, it would be one thing.
But Sanders was never a first-round prospect. He wasn't a second-round prospect either. And shame on Steelers fans who overreacted about Sanders after watching how the Kenny Pickett debacle situation played out.