Shedeur Sanders’ draft process has seen more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Except, he doesn’t “see dead people”. He sees opportunity. Shedeur, who initially appeared destined to land with the NY Giants at 3rd overall, is now in a state of uncertainty. Plummeting down the proverbial abyss and the literal draft board as teams with a need at quarterback seemingly pivot elsewhere. His stock plummeted to such an extent that he was excluded from the lottery in numerous mock drafts and analyses. However, Shedeur Sanders received an opportune and timely boost over the weekend, albeit under some rather morbid, injury-induced circumstances.

The draft is an exercise of supply vs. demand. The consensus around this QB class is that it’s short on supply. At least qualitatively, if not quantitatively. But demand is what truly dictates the stock of a player. From Shedeur Sanders’ perspective, there’s not as much of a demand for starting-caliber quarterbacks, period. A reason for this is how many teams made their bed last season, with 6 QBs being drafted in the top 12. If the Giants leave Shedeur on the board, there won’t be any QB-needy teams for a while. This could’ve made that stay in the Green Room both long and embarrassing on draft night. The lack of demand in the middle pack fueled the speculation that he might drop all the way to the Pittsburgh Steelers at number 21. However, it now appears he’ll be a top-10 pick after all.

In a twisted turn of fate, the New Orleans Saints have reportedly lost Derek Carr for the entire season. This is owing to a shoulder injury, as reported by Ian Rapoport. The timing is particularly brutal, as the Saints just restructured his $150 million contract. Now, mind you, NOLA was already in the Shedeur Sanders sweepstakes before this injury news broke on Friday, April 11th. However, there was a school of thought that they’d see out the year with Carr and address other issues on their roster in this draft cycle. This injury revelation has confirmed they’d need to draft a quarterback. This is why Mel Kiper, in his final mock draft, has Shedeur Sanders slated to go #9 to the Saints.

Sharing his rationale over ESPN’s “First Draft,” Kiper alluded to how the Derek Carr revelation solidifies Shedeur Sanders as a pick. “For me, Shedeur Sanders makes perfect sense…[The] bottom line is, [the Saints] were interesting long before [the Carr injury], and now, even more interesting,” he said.

It’s noteworthy that Mel Kiper reckons Shedeur is the best quarterback in this draft. Including consensus #1 overall pick Cam Ward. However, the more prevalent opinion on Shedeur is that he’s got holes in his repertoire. His arm strength, or lack thereof, is a particular hindrance. Kiper acknowledges this as a potential flaw, but he points out that it could be mitigated if Shedeur joins the Saints.

“When you look at what they need, they are a team that fits Shedeur Sanders,” said Kiper. He didn’t point to how Kellen Moore’s offense suits a pocket passer like Shedeur. Or even his computer-like processing speed and accuracy. Kiper actually brought up a more tangible reason—the fact the Saints play in a dome. Not only does the enclosure help QBs by keeping out the elements and neutralizing conditions, but it also allows the football to travel further without much air resistance.

“You want to criticize his arm? I don’t. But if you want to, the dome is going to help,” said Kiper. He even drew a parallel to Drew Brees and how it helped the future HOFer as well. Who also had skepticism around his arm strength and was uber-accurate, akin to Shedeur.

The Saints are at a crossroads here. Their salary cap situation is very rough. A rookie-scale quarterback is one of the few things that can make them more competitive. The Spencer Rattler experiment didn’t quite work last year, so that doesn’t seem to be a viable strategy heading into a new era under Kellen Moore. Drafting Shedeur Sanders really makes a lot of sense considering how the chips have fallen. Deion Sanders sizes this, as evidenced by his not-so-subtle post on X in the backwash of the Derek Carr news. His son really is riding a crest right now in this very wavy, up-and-down draft process. Apart from the Saints, there’s building interest from elsewhere, too. The Saints actually need to be wary of this since it stems from another team possessing a higher draft pick.

Shedeur Sanders may have gone from no suitors in the lottery to multiple ones

When Tom Brady became a minority owner at the Raiders and announced his intentions to take charge of football operations, there was fervor around who they’d taken on as a project at quarterback. Shedeur Sanders was the natural answer that made the most sense. Brady has mentored him in the past and already has an existing relationship with Sanders. Plus, the relocated franchise could do with a young, big-name, marketable QB. But new HC Pete Carroll is no spring chicken, and this was very much a win-now hire. Owing to this, they traded for Geno Smith. But Tom Pellissero of the NFL Network says that doesn’t entirely remove the Raiders from the Shedeur equation.

“The Raiders, sitting at No. 6, are in a position where if – if – Shedeur Sanders slides out of those top three spots, potentially, that could be in play,” he said. Less than 48 hours from this claim, Shedeur Sanders is actually due in Vegas for a top-30 visit to the Raiders facility. He seems particularly excited himself, having relayed the news on his IG. There’s no smoke without fire. Ever since Geno signed on, the Raiders have been widely touted and expected to draft Ashton Jeanty. Arguably the best RB to come onto the scene in years, he’s been tipped to be Carroll’s next Marshawn Lynch. But Shedeur visiting this close to the draft does throw a spanner in the works. The Saints potentially being undercut by a team picking before them is a fascinating new wrinkle to the chronicles of Shedeur Sanders.