NFL owners didn’t draft Shedeur Sanders because of attitude, ex-NFL star says

Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason unloaded on Shedeur Sanders on Monday following his dramatic slide in the 2025 NFL Draft, claiming that several teams took the former Colorado quarterback off their draft board because owners did not want an “entitled person” on their roster. 

Sanders was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the draft with the 144th overall pick. The stunning fall followed a dramatic weekend that began with many predicting that he would likely be selected in the first round along with teammate Travis Hunter, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the second overall pick. 

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders, #2, talks to ESPN after the University of Colorado NFL Showcase at the CU Indoor Practice Facility on April 4, 2025. (Michael Ciaglo-Imagn Images)

Not only had Sanders been passed over until the fifth round, he was also Cleveland’s second choice at quarterback. The Browns had already drafted Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round. 

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Esiason said Monday that he was not surprised by Sanders’ fall, claiming that several NFL personnel confirmed to him that their respective owners demanded that Sanders be removed from their plans altogether. 

“Shedeur Sanders just torpedoed himself. His attitude off the field – all those bad meetings that he had at the combine. His dad didn’t help him either,” Esiason said on Monday’s episode of the “Boomer and Gio” show. 

“I mean, he’s very high on himself and I think he was very off-putting to many coaches and general managers in the league. And I’m telling you right now, and I know this after talking to three different personnel people in the NFL this weekend, they didn’t even have him on their board. They took him off and they took him off because the owner said ‘Take him off, I don’t want that guy. I don’t want this kind of person in our – this entitled person on our team.’”

Boomer Esiason, former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, waives before being announced at halftime as a Bengals Ring of Champions inductee at halftime of the NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (IMAGN)

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Sanders faced significant criticism in the lead up to last week’s draft. One longtime NFL assistant coach recently told the NFL Network that Sanders was “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in in my life.” 

“He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates,” the coach continued. “But the biggest thing is, he’s not that good.” 

Sanders was a projected first-round pick. Among the projected landing spots were the New York Giants, who had the third overall pick, and the New Orleans Saints, who had the No. 9 pick. When both teams moved in different directions, the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 seemed like the next viable option, but Sanders’ name again remained on the board. 

A screen shows Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders after being chosen by the Cleveland Browns with the 144th overall pick during the third day of the NFL football draft on Saturday, April 26, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Esiason seemingly agreed with his sources.

“I don’t blame them. When you listen to the way he was talking about himself, some of the actions that you’ve seen on the field in terms of his interactions with other players, shoving a referee in the back, building his own draft room, legendary, having all this crap hanging off – I mean, this is basically a wake-up call to I think a lot of these athletes.”

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