Photo of Deion Sanders speaking on podcast and photo of Roger Goodell at NFL Draft

Deion Sanders and Roger Goodell (Photos via @FOS_Today Twitter and Getty Images)
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders has made a serious claim about the NFL ahead of the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft.

With the event two weeks away, many prospects have moved in both directions on the board. This is something that happens before every draft, and Coach Prime reckons he knows exactly why that is.

The former NFL star spoke to Front Office Sports this week and explained how teams use smear campaigns to manipulate a player’s draft stock.

“It’s done every year – but the teams are in control of it,” he said. “You have guys that are slated to go at this number pick. Randomly, something comes out that they flunked a drug test, or they have this type of injury or they were seen with this.

“And, wildly, their draft grade drops. How does that happen? How does that mysteriously come out right before the draft? That’s even more harsh… I worked the draft for about 10 to 12 years straight – I know that to be true.”

Is Deion Sanders On To Something?

Deion Sanders might be on to something here. As you heard him say in the video above, he was close to the Draft for several years and claimed to know for a fact that teams use such tactics to tank prospects’ grades.

It seems that every year, a player expected to be picked out of the first round slips down to the second. Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch is a good example from the last draft; he was initially tipped to go top 15 before slipping down to No. 45 overall.

It will be interesting to see who suffers such a drop in this year’s selection process. However, the NFL will not be happy with Sanders calling them out.