TMZSports.com
Pack up the tin foil hats and UFO paraphernalia … NFL agent Leigh Steinberg tells TMZ Sports the conspiracy theory that owners blackballed Shedeur Sanders during last weekend’s draft is “nonsense.”
The former Univ. of Colorado signal-caller, of course, was largely expected to be a first-round pick … but tumbled all the way to the fifth round on Saturday — which had people racing to social media to accuse franchises of colluding with one another to keep Deion‘s son down.
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Steinberg, though, told us this week there’s just no way that actually happened.
“Because teams want to add to their roster players that give them a chance to win,” he explained. “And that desire to have the best players overruns any other conspiracy theory. Teams would draft a player who’s got great talent on the field — he just didn’t find a match in the process.”
Instead, Steinberg — Patrick Mahomes‘ agent — said if people want to point the finger somewhere … they should start with Shedeur’s pre-draft process.
Steinberg told us he believes not throwing at the combine — plus not preparing sufficiently for interviews with general managers — were big reasons for his slide.
He also said the QB’s 13-12 record with the Buffaloes — and his famous father’s large shadow — likely played a role as well.
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Nonetheless, Steinberg told us it could all be “a really good thing” for the young Sanders’ career — pointing out there’s now no pressure for the 23-year-old to start right away.
“He can still be a dominant player,” Steinberg said, “it’s just a slower path.”
