The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the worst teams in the NFL. The 2024 season reflects two wins on their record, tied for worst in the league. Quarterback and head coach are two spots that need to be upgraded. Rumors circulate that those upgrades will be Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shadeur Sanders and his father, Coach Deion Sanders.
Sanders to the Raiders?
Coach Prime and his Colorado Buffaloes football team are 8-2 and in good position to win the Big 12 title. His son, Shadeur Sanders is the starting quarterback and is projected to be one of the first players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce is in his first year as the full-time head coach and the results are disappointing. The Raiders are 2-8, a downgrade from the 8-9 season they put together last year. Pierce made significant changes to the offensive coaching staff during the bye week but the offense did not look any better vs the Miami Dolphins in Week 11.
Raiders ownership and management have proven to be impatient and quick to make changes. Antonio Pierce could be coaching his first and last full season with the Raiders.
Coach Sanders is the most popular name rumored to join the Raiders as their new head coach. Prime recently went on “SPEAK” and “We Got Time Today” and spoke about his potential future and Shedeur’s.
When Coach Sanders was a guest on the show “SPEAK” he elaborated that he would ensure that his son would be drafted by a team that had the right people to develop a quarterback properly. Coach could be alluding to Tom Brady who has a significant ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders now.
He also mentioned that he would step in and block franchises that do not have a history of developing their quarterbacks well. That also sounds like the Raiders.
On “We Got Time Today” Coach Prime and another guest, longtime Raiders fan Ice Cube, shared a positive interaction regarding the rumor that both son and father would be part of the Raiders in 2025. The excitement of both was apparent.
However, Sanders has made very clear statements regarding his future coaching in the NFL. The most definitive one was in 2023 when he told Sports Illustrated: “I don’t have any desire or ambition to coach in the NFL,” Sanders said. “I have a problem with men getting their checks and not doing their jobs. I would be too tough as a coach in the NFL because I still have those old-school attributes.”
One important aspect of this situation is that if both Shadeur and Deion are going to be with the Raiders, then we will know very early into the offseason. If the Raiders earn the number one pick, fire head coach Pierce and hire Deion, then it would be apparent who the number one pick would be.
This scenario is unlikely. Coach Prime has done well at Colorado, everything he said he was going to do, so far, he’s done. He’s paid well and the Buffaloes are a well-known and high-ranked program. He’s “comfortable” as he’s mentioned and the plan is to keep Colorado at the top of the rankings.
The scenario of both Sanders in Silver and Black is most likely exactly what Ice Cube called it “a dream come true as a fan.” Fans of football and the Raiders continue to push this rumor and story, but it is not likely that Sanders will be coaching his son Shadeur on the Raiders or any NFL team.
