When the final day of the 2025 NFL Draft is invited, one question rules them all.
Where is Chedur Sanders heading?
At one point during this draft cycle, the Colorado quarterback was in the QB1 debate, but as he got out of the first three rounds, Sanders is waiting to hear his name in the 2025 NFL Draft. In the meantime, five quarterbacks, Cam Ward, Jackson Dart, Tyler Schaff, Jalen Millow and Dillon Gabriel, were drafted, and questions about Sanders’ landing sites replaced the outdoor subquest.
Will he be able to return to college?
It was a debate that came to mind on the NFL network during Friday night coverage. After all, Sanders still has a year of college qualification.
But if this is the route he wants to pursue, it won’t come without a fight. In other words, it’s a legal battle.
Under the NFL and NCAA Eligibility ruleswhen players declared the NFL draft, they waived the remaining college eligibility. As stated by the league here:
The NFL encourages most House students to complete their university eligibility and earn their degrees while maturing as a professional outlook. Participating in the draft means that the underclassmen lose the remaining eligibility. If he is not selected for the NFL team, he will not be able to play another college season and will not be able to improve the draft of the following year’s draft.
Other professional leagues, such as the NBA, allow players to return to school after declaring a draft, unless they have an agent. Sanders and his camp handled his representatives without hiring agents, but there is no same provision in the NFL.
Now it could be challenged in court. As specified by Mike Florio In A story about professional football On Friday night, Sanders was able to try to challenge that rule:
However, in recent years I have learned something very important about college football. In most, if not all, NCAA rules violate federal antitrust laws. And since players are currently making millions of money, why don’t they allow eligible players to come back?
No one has tested it. Chedur is possible. If that failed, he could sign a rookie contract and eventually join the team drafting him.
The potential challenges also have attractive financial aspects. Falling on the third day, Sanders will earn more money through potential contracts than through rookie contracts.
Next is this potential debate. Perhaps when you go back to college and go back to another school, you can show the NFL that the league wants to see from Sanders.
There’s another twist he should consider. Don’t go back to Colorado. His 2026 draft stock could be strengthened by finding a new team and proving that he can play at a high level from his father/coach Deion.
Small issues in Colorado have already retired his jersey.
Legal barriers may prevent this from being a true option for Sanders. And who knows how the league will see him next year if he chooses to fight back to school rather than prove his worth after becoming a late round pick. The evaluation game has an “old-school” aspect, and it’s not difficult to believe that Sanders’ approach to meetings has rubbed the league the wrong way. Will that thinking improve when you return to school?
Today we’ll see what happens, and the simple answer is this. Sanders can’t return to school at least without a legal battle.
