Shedeur Sanders’ drop proves why drafts shouldn’t exist
Good morning, Winners! This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Here’s Mike Sykes.
Shedeur Sanders' tumble to the 5th round of the NFL draft after being projected as a first-round pick throughout most of the pre-draft process was a shock to the system for almost every fan of the game out there. By the time we got to the third day of the draft, even Patrick Mahomes was confused. It just didn't feel right that he sat for so long after being the favorite to be the No. 1 pick at the end of the NCAA season. This was the worst drop in the draft that we'd ever seen.
Now, we know why. Well, kind of.
Sanders tanked his draft stock by "sandbagging" interviews with teams he didn't want to play for. That doesn't fully explain the dip, as our Blake Schuster points out, but it does explain a lot of it. Sanders tried to manipulate his draft position by being selective about which activities he participated in during the draft process. That's extremely risky — especially when your tape isn't perfect. He wanted to land with a preferred team but ended up as a 5th-round pick instead. We can all argue until we're blue in the face about whether this was the NFL humbling him or if this is just how the dice roll when you play things this way. But that's not what I'm here for today.
Instead, I'm here to explain why Sanders' extraordinary drop should convince you that the NFL draft — nor any other draft! — should exist in the capacity that they do.
It's time to get radicalized, folks.
What happened to Sanders might be the most transparent and publicly visible example of the draft being an anti-labor practice.
Here was a guy who, by all accounts, was considered either the first or second-best quarterback in this draft class when the college football season ended. He plays the most coveted position in the sport. And yet, because he tried to gain back a bit of agency in a process that doesn't reward you with any, he was punished. Not only did he lose out on draft standing, but he also lost millions of dollars in the process. The league burned him for trying to manipulate his pre-draft process.
That's not a fair position to be in for any player, let alone Sanders. That's not how things work in any other profession. Why is it OK here?
One might argue that players should be happy regardless of what team they're being forced to play for. After all, they're living out their dream. They're making millions of dollars to play a game simply. That's something most of us will never experience.
But I'll push back against that. I'd actually argue that it's for that very reason that these players must be able to choose where they play to start their careers.
The average NFL career is only around 3.3 years, give or take. Most players won't retire. They'll be forced out of the game because of injury or positional scarcity. It won't be something they can control. There's a finite window to capitalize on these talents.
So, with that being the case, wouldn't it make sense that a player would want to choose what organization they spend their time with to begin their careers? That's all Sanders was trying to do. Today, he looks like a fool for it. I don't think that's fair. I don't think you should, either.
Shedeur Sanders isn't wrong for trying to avoid playing for certain teams. In the end, he did what most of us do when looking for a job — he tried to find the best place for him. The draft is over and he's a Cleveland Brown now. I'm sure that's fine by him after what he experienced over the weekend.
But it really shouldn't have come to that. It's such a shame that it did.
Tyrese Haliburton is a class act
It's largely suspected that Damian Lillard tore his Achilles in Game 4 against the Pacers on Sunday. We don't know that for sure, but Doc Rivers said the prognosis on Lillard's non-contact injury was "not very promising" immediately following the game. It sounds like he's done and he might be for a while. It's honestly sad.
So seeing Tyrese Haliburton send positive vibes Lillard's way after the game was pretty touching.
The beef between the Pacers and Bucks is well-documented. Lillard and Haliburton have had words with each other, too. There's clearly a competitive rivalry there. But Haliburton demonstrates how that can all be set aside at a moment's notice to recognize the humanity in one of his rivals.
"What you see between us is competing. You hate to see that happen — especially to a guy who's went through a lot. He's given it his all to come out here and play after a scary healthy issue," Haliburton said. "It's well-documented the love I have for that guy. Hate to see that happen to anybody and wish him the best moving forward."
All the best to Dame, man. Shoutout to Haliburton for doing this — he didn't have to. That means a lot.
The Commanders did it
Football is coming back to D.C. — the real D.C.
For decades, the Washington Commanders have played in Landover, Maryland — a town about 35 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. where the Commanders call their hometown. Now, it seems, the team has struck a deal with the city to come back to D.C.
"The NFL franchise has been stuck in one of the NFL's worst stadiums, with a new home stuck in limbo at the old RFK Stadium site. But a new report on Sunday led to the news on Monday: the Commanders are bringing the franchise back to Washington D.C. proper, with a video narrated by the great Joe Theismann.
Yes, it'll be at the site of RFK, and there's talk of new retail and such around the area."
Fans have been waiting on this for years. Nice to finally see it done.
Quick hits: Saquon Barkley hangs with Trump ... Dominique Malonga misses camp ... and more
— Saquon Barkley is firing back at critics after kicking it with President Donald Trump. Charles Curtis has more.
— Dominique Malonga is missing a bit of training camp with the Seattle Storm because of an overseas commitment, but Meg Hall says it's not a big deal.
— The Savannah Bananas made some history. Caroline Darney has details.
— Here's Robert Zeglinski, Cory Woodroof and Christian D'Andrea with their post-NFL draft power rankings.
— This Shedeur Sanders prank call story is so strange.
— There's absolutely no way a game should ever end like this. Andrew Joseph has details.
That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️