Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are one of the hottest properties in NCAA football right now, with a top-20 ranking, a 7-2 record, and two potential top-five NFL Draft picks in quarterback Shedeur Sanders (Deion’s son) and cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter. The Dallas Cowboys — for whom Deion played in the 1990s — are headed for a disappointing 2024 season and are set to let head coach Mike McCarthy’s contract expire, opening up one of the league’s most coveted jobs.
The story almost writes itself, doesn’t it? Amid what McCarthy has termed “culture problem” in Dallas, the Cowboys continue to be linked to Sanders, who has worked wonders at Colorado and has long been ticketed for a move to the NFL — which could be made easier if his son is in the league in 2025.
Deion, Shedeur, and change for the Cowboys
At 57 years old, the time might be now for Deion to make his move back to the NFL. But his most recent quotes on the subject reveal what he really thinks about jumping back into the pro game.
“I don’t have any desire or ambition to coach in the NFL,” Sanders said in 2022. “I have a problem with men getting their checks and not doing their jobs. I would be too tough as a coach in the NFL because I still have those old-school attributes.”
Sanders kept this stance throughout 2023 as well, when he told NFL Network’s Rich Eisen that motivation — which is such an important element to his coaching style — is much harder to deliver to players in the pros than players in the NCAA.
Still, speculation — mostly fueled by ESPN talking heads such as Rex Ryan and Stephen A. Smith — persists that Sanders will leave Colorado at the first real opportunity in order to “rescue” his beloved Cowboys, who have a number of serious personnel decisions to make beyond McCarthy.
Even the quarterback position could be in play after Dak Prescott’s season-ending injury, and Dallas could make a play for Shedeur as a strategy to entice Deion to leave Boulder. However, Prescott’s onerous salary and cap hit makes it unlikely that team owner Jerry Jones would pursue such an audacious plan — especially if Coach Prime has indicated to Jones that he is not interested in the Cowboys’ rebuilding job.
Yet, as Colorado continues to win and Coach Prime’s favorite players get ready to leave the program, the rumors will continue to tie Sanders to Jones and the Cowboys. It remains to be seen whether the allure of the NFL will prove too much for Coach Prime to pass up.
