“You're affecting someone's livelihood”: Colorado’s Deion Sanders calls out NFL teams for toying with players’ draft stocks
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders reportedly believes that players' draft stocks are often manipulated.
In the lead-up to each year's draft, several players come under the scanner for off-field notoriety, whether it is legal trouble or failed drug tests.
Deion Sanders recently spoke to Front Office Sports and reportedly said that he believes teams purposely tank players' draft stocks so they can select them in later rounds:
"You have guys that are slated to go and slot it to go at this number pick," Sanders said. "Randomly, something comes out that they flunked their drug tests, or they have this type of injury, or they were seen with this and wildly, their draft grade drops later in the round, or even the next round. How does that happen? How does that mysteriously come out right before the draft?
"That's even more harsh [than players refusing to sign with teams], because now you're affecting someone's livelihood, and you're putting a tremendous rumor on somebody that may not even be true. So that's done every year. The reason I know is that I worked the draft for about 10 to 12 years straight. I know that to be true."
In the lead-up to the 2024 NFL Draft, a report recently claimed that teams view Malik Nabers as high-maintenance. Nabers was expected to be drafted early in the first round, but whether or not this report will have any impact on that is to be seen.
This is an example of what Sanders wanted to highlight, as it did seem to come out of nowhere just before the draft.
Deion Sanders looking to build on his first year at Colorado
Deion Sanders is set for his second season as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.
Sanders led Colorado to a 4-8 record last season. Colorado started the year 3-0, with two upset wins over TCU and Nebraska, and were briefly touted to take the season by storm.
However, they ended the season on a six-game losing streak and missed out on bowl eligibility.
Sanders has been active in the transfer portal to try and improve Colorado's roster as the Buffaloes get ready for life in the Big 12.
Colorado have notable games against Nebraska, Baylor, Texas Tech, Utah, and Kansas among others in the upcoming season.