“It runs in the family”: Shedeur Sanders garners honest advice from 2024 NFL Draft 5th-round QB 

Despite a dramatic fall to the fifth round in the 2025 NFL draft, one former quarterback believes Shedeur Sanders is destined for great things. On Friday’s edition of “The Rich Eisen Show,” New Orleans Saints pivot Spencer Rattler had this advice about the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

“Everybody can’t go first round and second round," Rattler said (4:09). "You know everybody has their own path, so take it step by step, take it day by day … I know he’ll be great. I know he’s got a level head and knows what to do, obviously, it runs in the family, so I know he’s gonna work hard and be a great player.”

Rattler would be able to relate to Sanders, seeing he also wasn’t taken until the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft.

In 2024, Rattler began the year behind Derek Carr on the Saints' depth chart but wound up playing seven games, starting in six of them after Carr went down with an injury. Last May, he signed a four-year deal with the Saints worth $4,356,480.

Being passed up by so many teams until the 150th pick in 2024 served as a motivational factor for Rattler.

“You know you want to go out there and prove yourself every single week, not just for me, I think that’s everybody who has some sort of chip on their shoulder," Rattler added. "Dropping that far in the draft, you know it gives you a little chip, and I think that’s good for you.”

Both Sanders and Rattler were First-team All-Big 12 selections, and they were each pegged by some to be taken in the opening round of their respective drafts.

Shedeur Sanders has an alternative option to the NFL

By all accounts, things are going well for Shedeur Sanders in his early days in Cleveland. That said, he’s competing against a former first-rounder in Kenny Pickett, an ex-Super Bowl MVP in Joe Flacco, plus a young QB in Dillon Gabriel who was drafted in the third round this year by the franchise ahead of Sanders.

Needless to say, Sanders has a steep hill to climb if he’s to be an NFL starter. However, he has other options, including one potentially enticing one north of the border.

According to NBC Sports, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League have the negotiating rights to Sanders. While it’s unlikely he joins them anytime soon, if things don’t work out in Cleveland, he’d be welcomed with open arms to the CFL.

At the same time, he wouldn’t be the first quarterback to go to the CFL before a return to the NFL, as Doug Flutie, Warren Moon and Joe Theismann were all successful QBS in the CFL and used that as a springboard to get NFL contracts.

That could be a viable option for Sanders if things don’t work out for him early on in Cleveland. Last year, the Argonauts won the Grey Cup, the championship trophy given at the end of the CFL season.