Deion hints he’ll sway son’s draft fate, cites Eli

For Deion Sanders’ next trick, he’ll try to game the NFL draft.

The Colorado coach said his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and two-way star cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter will decide where they go in the 2025 draft, and not the other way around as is traditionally the case.

“I know where I want them to go,” Deion Sanders told the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast Friday. “So, it’s certain cities that ain’t going to happen. It’s going to be an Eli.”

“Eli” is in reference to two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning, who was selected with the first overall pick in 2004 by the Chargers, for whom he said he wouldn’t play. One hour later, San Diego traded Manning to the New York Giants, and the rest is history.

Deion Sanders has already said he doesn’t want his son “going nowhere cold” via the draft. On Friday, he told the podcast that there are “certain cities that fit” before mentioning San Francisco, Dallas, Washington and Baltimore as possible landing spots.

“There were certain cities that fit [for me],” Deion Sanders said about being drafted by the Falcons in 1989. “Atlanta fit, and I want that for my kids. All of them. I want the right fit. [Atlanta] was the first time I saw Black people in positions of authority. It blew my mind. It was real in Atlanta. I had never seen anything like that in my life.”

Deion Sanders said he thinks Shedeur Sanders and Hunter will both be selected among the top four picks in the 2025 draft, with one of the two players going with the No. 1 pick.

ESPN’s Matt Miller recently projected Sanders as one of the top three quarterbacks in the 2025 draft and Hunter as one of the top three cornerbacks.

Shedeur Sanders and Hunter both transferred from Jackson State to Colorado after Deion Sanders became the Buffaloes’ coach before last season.

In his first season at Colorado, Shedeur Sanders threw for 3,230 yards — completing 69.3% of his attempts — for 27 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions as the Buffaloes went 4-8. Hunter, meanwhile, had three interceptions on defense and caught 57 passes for 721 yards and 5 touchdowns; he missed three games with a lacerated liver.