After Shedeur Sanders fell out of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, some were surprised – but most weren’t shocked – to think the Colorado quarterback might end up a second-round pick. However, as Day 2 of the draft wore on, Sanders was passed over again and again, and the realization eventually set in that his slide wouldn’t end Friday night.
In total, three quarterbacks — Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe and Dillon Gabriel — were selected in Rounds 2-3 with Sanders still waiting to hear his name called as the draft moves on to Day 3 on Saturday. That sparked speculation about whether Sanders’ camp had begun telling teams not to draft him, as even the most critical evaluators would have expected a team to take a third-round flyer on him.
Among the questions raised was whether Sanders could return to college football for one more season at Colorado, as he still had a year of eligibility before declaring for the draft. The short answer: no. Once a player declares for the NFL Draft, they forfeit the remainder of their college eligibility, according to the NFL’s College Advisory Committee).
Participating in the Draft means that an underclassman loses his remaining eligibility: If he is not selected by an NFL team, he will not be able to play another college season and he will not be able to improve his draft standing for the following year’s draft.
Now, there’s nothing participants in collegiate athletics love more than going to court, so perhaps Sanders could sue to try to regain his eligibility. We’ve seen underclassmen sue for the right to leave school early — Ohio State’s Maurice Clarett, for example — but never to return to college football. Short of that, his college career is over, whether he gets drafted or not.
Beyond the legal impossibility, Sanders’ slide doesn’t feel like the kind of thing another year of tape would fix. Falling from the first round to Day 2 was justifiable based on football-related concerns, but once he dropped outside the top 102 picks, it’s becoming clear there was more to the story. His slide seems less about on-field performance and more about teams not wanting to hand him the keys to their franchise for other reasons.
And if he did return, Colorado would have to unretire his jersey.
That would be a bit awkward.
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