Shedeur Sanders is the name of everyone’s lips around the NFL.
The eldest son of NFL legend Deion Sanders is currently locked in a four-way QB battle with the Cleveland Browns after enduring an unprecedented slide in April’s draft.
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Shedeur is the most talked about quarterback in the NFL right nowCredit: Getty
However, much less attention has been given to Shedeur‘s older brother, Shilo, who played with him in college as a member of the Colorado Buffaloes, where dad Deion, who’s gone through a medical scare of late, also happens to coach.
After going undrafted, Shilo was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.
The 25-year-old safety earned promising reviews in his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans, recording one quarterback hit and one solo tackle in a 29-7 win, but his second outing was much less impressive.
He recorded two tackles after entering in the third quarter, but also missed two tackles and failed to make any plays in coverage in a 14-17 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And now, his hopes of securing a roster spot in Florida have taken a major setback.
Latest projection has Shilo Sanders failing to make Bucs final 53-man roster
The latest roster projection from Pewter Report has Tampa Bay keeping five safeties on their active roster – but Sanders, who’s listed as the team’s fourth-string safety, is not included.
Instead, the projection gives roster spots to J.J. Roberts and Kaevon Merriwether, Christian Izien, Tykee Smith and Antoine Winfield Jr.
Sanders’ best chance to make the roster would be to take the spot of Roberts – who is also an undrafted free agent.
However, the Bucs have financially invested in Roberts, handing him a three-year rookie contract that paid out a guaranteed $300,000, meaning displacing him could be tricky.
According to Bucs insider Scott Reynolds, Shilo is likely to serve as a practice-squad member for Tampa Bay in 2025, ultimately failing to make their final 53-man roster.
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Shilo is listed as the Bucs’ fourth-string safety and is projected to fail to make their final rosterCredit: Getty
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Shilo had a strong debut outing for the Bucs in their preseason clash against the TitansCredit: Getty
Reynolds says the defensive back would have to do something pretty special in the Bucs’ final preseason game to change his fate.
“Sanders looks like a practice squad safety right now and really needs to show up with a big play or two against Buffalo in the preseason finale in order to make his case for inclusion in the 53-man roster,” Reynolds wrote.
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles has spoken highly of Sanders
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles shared his thoughts on Shilo after the Steelers game, outlining what he likes from the young safety and what to expect over the next week.
“Shilo’s very aggressive, very young, very hungry,” Bowles said. “He can make plays in the box, and we know he can run down and give us 100% on special teams. This last week is going to be very important for those guys to show up.”
Bowles’ words come after Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht raved about Shilo on a recent appearance on The Pat And Aaron Show on WDAE radio.
“He does do all the right things,” Licht said. “He’s just been an awesome kid around the facility.
“First one in. Very, very respectful of everybody, not just his coaches but, you know, people working in all aspects of the organization.
“Great kid. Rooting for him.”
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The Bucs general manager has spoken highly of Shilo after he went undraftedCredit: Getty
Speaking about his preseason performances, Sanders said, “It felt good.
“Thank you, God, for putting me in position to even be on the field. I feel like I left some big hits on the table. Next game will be some improvements on my angles, on my tracking because you don’t really get to work on it in an NFL practice, or you’re gonna get kicked out of practice.
“Seeing a game for the first time in a long time did some good things. It is what it is.”
Shilo, who signed a reported three-year, $2.96m rookie contract, now has one final preseason game to impress the Bucs before they announce their final 53-man roster.
Tampa Bay will play their third and final preseason game on Saturday, August 23 against the Buffalo Bills.
They face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 of the new NFL season.
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