High-level NFL executive seems to send strong response to Shedeur Sanders predraft takedowns

Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders insisted that negativity hanging over his future didn't "play a factor in [his] life at all" after multiple stories featured NFL coaches and executives ripping his athleticism and character. 

Less than nine hours before the start of the draft, one unnamed "high-level NFL executive" seemed to respond to the Sanders takedowns while speaking with league insider Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports. 

"The anonymous negative quotes that pop up every year? Total garbage," the executive told Schultz. "If you’ve got something to say, put your name on it or keep it in-house. Every team has access to similar intel — nobody’s dumb enough to read a tweet and suddenly pull a guy off their board."

A report back in March claimed that Sanders "hit the wrong notes in" interviews with some teams during the NFL Scouting Combine. More recently, a "longtime NFL assistant coach" said Sanders was part of "the worst formal interview I've ever been in in my life," is "so entitled" and is "not that good" of a player. 

"This is supposed to be a celebration for these players, the biggest weekend of their lives. And instead, some people try to torpedo them for clout. Enough already," the executive told Schultz. "It’s embarrassing for the league."

NFL Network "Good Morning Football" host Kyle Brandt previously ripped the longtime assistant coach and said that the criticism of Sanders was "nonsense." Meanwhile, retired player and current NFL analyst Merril Hoge had no problem letting people know he thinks Sanders "can't handle the expectations that are coming his way," is "gonna be an epic failure" and will set an organization "back another two or three years."

For what it's worth, NFL Draft analyst and league insider Todd McShay of The Ringer (h/t Bleacher Report) reported in his latest newsletter that Sanders' visit with New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll "did not go particularly well," as there was "some frustration between the two regarding Sanders’s preparation of an install package."

McShay added that "it seems the interview process as a whole...negatively affected the leaguewide perception of Sanders during the lead-up to this year’s draft."

In short, Sanders had better expect to hear questions about what did and/or didn't happen over the past several months when he speaks with reporters as an NFL player for the first time.