Shedeur Sanders’ wild NFL Draft ride just took another twist—and it’s coming from way outside the league. After slipping from a near-lock first-rounder to a shocking fifth-round pick by the Cleveland Browns (144th overall, no less), and when you thought the story was over, another player steps onto the field. A $22.2M non-NFL powerhouse is circling—and they just made their move. Sanders’ next chapter? It might not be in the NFL after all.

Shedeur Sanders has now caught serious eyes north of the border. Per insider Dave Naylor, the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts have officially added Sanders to their CFL negotiation list as of April 28th. Translation? If Shedeur ever dips out of Cleveland—whether he gets cut, stashed, or just says forget it—Toronto’s got first dibs. No bidding wars. No drama.

The Argonauts, sitting on an estimated revenue of $22.2M per year, are throwing a not-so-subtle lifeline to Sanders just days after his NFL stock took a brutal hit. And with the Browns already drafting another QB ahead of him? Yeah… the door’s cracked open a little wider than it should be.

According to the CFL’s official site, “CFL by-laws state that teams can claim exclusive rights for up to 45 players by placing them on their negotiation lists.” That means players can be low-key added, dropped, or even traded off those lists whenever teams feel like shaking things up, no questions asked.

Look, the Browns pulled the trigger on Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in the 3rd round, which means Sanders is now up against veterans Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and the rookie Gabriel for the chance to start while Deshaun Watson rehabs from Achilles surgery. Now, there’s a legit shot Sanders could start in Cleveland this year, but that crowded QB room isn’t exactly a dream scenario for a guy once pegged as a franchise-level talent. During the draft, there were even rumors that the UFL might throw a monster deal his way, trying to use Sanders as their big name to bring in fans. But from everything Sanders has said and done since he got drafted, it’s clear he’s still all-in on the NFL—at least for now.

The word on the street is that Shedeur Sanders’ pre-draft game might’ve been the real reason he slid so far. According to Jonathan Jones from CBS Sports: “At some of those [combine] meetings with certain teams that maybe Shedeur Sanders didn’t really want to go to, didn’t see himself going to for any number of reasons, maybe they had a starting quarterback installed there—I was told that he more or less sandbagged in those interviews,” Jones said Saturday. “I don’t know if he didn’t take them seriously, what it was. But he did not give it his all in some of those interviews. Rubbed some teams the wrong way.”

NFL owners had Shedeur Sanders off limits before draft day

The smoke is still rising from Shedeur Sanders’ chaotic draft weekend, and the real story might be the stuff that went down behind closed doors. According to Jaclyn Hendricks at the New York Post, former NFL QB and analyst Boomer Esiason spilled the beans on WFAN’s morning show, talking about how Sanders rubbed some folks the wrong way before the draft.

“When you listen to this kid talk, right prior or at the Combine, about how if you want a new culture in your locker room, I’m the guy to do that, I can turn it around, he’s very high on himself, and I think he’s very off-putting to many, many coaches and general managers in the league,” Esiason explained. But the most shocking part?

“I’m telling you right now, and I know this after talking to three different personnel people in the NFL this weekend, they didn’t even have him on their board. They took him off, and they took him off because the owner said, ‘Take him off, I don’t want that guy. I don’t want this …entitled person on our team.’”

The word around the league is that some owners were flat-out rejecting Sanders before the draft even kicked off. They didn’t like his swagger or his confidence—they saw a kid who was way too sure of himself, too “me-first,” and not enough about team chemistry. And when you’re not a no-brainer top pick, that kind of attitude can tank your stock fast. Sanders’ interviews were, let’s say, less than impressive. Instead of playing the game and showing he was all in, he was acting like he didn’t even care. That’s the type of move that gets you dropped down draft boards in a hurry.

This whole thing is almost like déjà vu from his father Deion’s draft experience. Remember, Deion wasn’t exactly Mr. Cooperative when the Giants tried to bring him in. He made it clear that he wasn’t interested in jumping through their hoops. But Deion was a generational talent. Shedeur? Not quite the same. His talent is real, but without that elite level of play to back it up, you have to play the game the right way—and he simply didn’t.

When asked about his pre-draft approach, Shedeur had a lot to say: “Do I have any regrets? I feel like in life it’s always a way I can improve. So it’s always in different areas I’m able to improve. And some things that I could have done at the time that seemed right at the time I could have went about in a different way and that was like more during the season and stuff like that.” Sounds like he’s aware of where he went wrong. But the question is, will he take this as a wake-up call and adjust his game, or will he let his frustration spiral into resentment?

Shedeur’s slip from a potential top pick to the 5th round wasn’t just a case of bad luck. It was about his attitude and approach during the process. Confidence is great, but in a league as cutthroat as the NFL, you can’t afford to think you’re bigger than the grind. If Shedeuer Sanders gets rocked by Cleveland’s QB room, the Argos hold exclusive rights to bring him north. No second team can touch him in the CFL. Toronto’s move comes just days after Sanders’ stunning draft slide, and it’s a clear message: if the NFL fumble continues, they’re ready to pounce. For now, Sanders’ NFL dream is alive—but Toronto’s sitting in the shadows, waiting.