A Shedeur Sanders return to college football gained steam as the former Colorado Buffaloes legend was sliding out of the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL draft. It would’ve inspired an antitrust suit with Jeffrey Kessler, but it was never close to happening. Still, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio floated the North Carolina Tar Heels and first-year head coach Bill Belichick as a potential transfer portal landing spot in that alternate reality.
Florio did so within the larger framework of an extended criticism of the draft process and its proclivity to prematurely shut doors for players who can use an extra year in college before going pro.
“For Sanders, he could have made as much or more in college this year than he’ll make from the Browns in four seasons. And he could have boosted his draft stock with a strong season, especially if he had transferred to a new school (maybe North Carolina) and proven his chops away from his father,” Florio wrote.
Shedeur, as Florio relays, could’ve benefited from an extra year in college after reportedly fumbling the pre-draft process.
“He also could have benefitted from a Mulligan on the draft process. In 2025, he treated it like he was being recruited. If he got a clean slate in 2026 and adopted a different approach, maybe he’d earn a much higher draft slot — and a much greater rookie deal,” Florio wrote.
North Carolina went with South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez out of the transfer portal. While Lopez was an exciting name, Belichick largely didn’t go for big swings during his first recruiting cycle in Chapel Hill.
Shedeur choosing UNC is too good to be true in every sense of the word. If “good” is the word Tar Heel fans would use after Shedeur’s PR debacle led to a historic draft night slide.
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