Deion Sanders is reportedly interested in coaching the Raiders (and there's a Tom Brady connection)
The Las Vegas Raiders’ search for a new head coach has reportedly grown to include one of college football’s most polarizing names.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore, associates of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders have reached out to the franchise to “express Sanders’ interest in the opening”.
Per Bonsignore:
It’s unclear whether the Raiders are as interested in Sanders as he is in them. Tom Brady, who recently joined the franchise as a minority owner, is spearheading the search for a coach and general manager after the dismissal of Tom Telesco on Thursday. Brady will have a significant voice in the Raiders’ decisions.
Now that Sanders’ son Shedeur is off to the NFL Draft — where he’s expected to become one of the picks alongside teammate Travis Hunter — it’s not surprising to hear Sanders may be looking to move on as well.
The Brady element here could make all the difference.
The Sanders family and Brady have a relatively lengthy history. Shedeur has trained with the former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback over the years and even signed an NIL deal with Brady’s TB12 brand in 2022 when he was still at Jackson State.
Yet it seems like the Raiders and Sanders would need a somewhat perfect storm to entice him to leave a Colorado program picking up serious momentum.
Earlier this week, Sanders told Good Morning America he would only be interested in an NFL head coaching job if he was coaching his sons, Shilo and Shedeur.
Coach Prime on the chance of possibly coaching his sons in the NFL:
“ The only way I would consider, is to coach my SONS.”
@GMA pic.twitter.com/Ye5FyvmtOC
— GUCCE (@gucceCU) January 8, 2025
That said, Deion is already trying to exert some influence over where Shedeur will land in the draft, reiterating previous comments about a couple NFL teams he won’t allow his son to play for during an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show:
“It’s not like who I would like for him to play for. It’s a couple of teams that I won’t allow him to play for. So it’s not like that. But this is my profession. I know what’s behind the curtain. We ain’t got to get back there for me to understand what’s behind the curtain and what’s not prominent for my son. I’m not doing it.”
The Raiders currently hold the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft, behind QB-needy teams like the Tennessee Titans (No. 1), Cleveland Browns (No. 2) and New York Giants (No. 3). It might be difficult to steer Shedeur to Las Vegas without trading up, though certainly not impossible — especially considering Raiders owner Mark Davis seemed open to drafting Shedeur earlier this year.
Either way, there’s a long way to go in any discussion about Deion, Shedeur and the Raiders teaming up. But the first steps have reportedly been made and that’s not nothing.