The New York Giants snubbed Shedeur Sanders in the NFL Draft, choosing to go with Jaxson Dart instead. But it’s been suggested that they were very high on him before that, as were the Tennessee Titans, who took Cam Ward with their No. 1 overall pick.
According to former NFL star Shawne Merriman, the aforementioned NFL teams obsessed over the quarterback during the East-West Shrine Bowl earlier this year and would not give him a break.
“I talked to [Giants head coach] Brian Daboll and I also talked to the GM there (Joe Schoen), and I can tell you, between the Giants and the Titans, they would not leave Shedeur alone,” Merriman said on the ‘Up & Adams’ podcast with Kay Adams this week.
"Between the Giants and the Titans, they would not leave Shedeur alone.."@shawnemerriman on Shedeur experience at the shrine bowl
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) May 5, 2025
The former All-Pro had a front row seat at the Shrine Bowl as he’s the CEO of Lights Out Sports, which has media rights to practices at the event. He claims that Sanders was the subject of immense interest, so much so that he was “almost tripping over their digital people with cameras because they were in our way.”
“They were trying to get as close as they were to Shedeur, so I knew they were very high on Shedeur,” he added.
Shawne Merriman Says The Giants & Titans Had Shedeur Sanders As Their 1st Round Pick At That Point
Merriman even went as far as suggesting that both the Giants and Titans had Shedeur down as “their pick” but he can’t figure out what happened between the Shrine Bowl and the NFL Draft to cause him to slide.
“The Giants — speaking of Brian Daboll and the GM there — and the Titans were very high on him and that was supposed to be their pick, so I’m not sure what happened at that point.”
Shedeur opted not to play at the All-Star bowl game, but, according to Merriman, that didn’t deter teams, who were all there to see him “even though he wasn’t practicing.”
The former Colorado star ended up sliding all the way to the fifth round, with the Cleveland Browns trading up to take him after selecting QB Dillion Gabriel in round 3.
Also Read: Someone Asked Grok To Predict Shedeur Sanders’ Entire NFL Career, And The Results Are Shocking