{"id":331054,"date":"2025-08-31T13:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T13:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/331054\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T13:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T13:16:11","slug":"shilo-sanders-waiting-on-next-opportunity-after-buccaneers-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/331054\/","title":{"rendered":"Shilo Sanders &#8216;waiting on next opportunity&#8217; after Buccaneers release"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756646171_45_85694079007-usatsi-26862685-168393153-lowres.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Baker Mayfield gives advice for Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland<\/p>\n<p>As a former Cleveland quarterback, Baker Mayfield offers guidance to Shedeur Sanders on handling pressure and finding success in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>Sports Seriously<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/players\/shilo-sanders\/1180352\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Shilo Sanders<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/buccaneers\/2025\/08\/24\/shilo-sanders-deion-sanders-shedeur-sanders-buccaneers\/85784667007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> ahead of the NFL&#8217;s 53-man roster deadline, ending his bid to make the team after not being selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/2025\/08\/28\/shilo-sanders-practice-squad-waivers-tampa-bay-buccaneers\/85854731007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">not being signed<\/a> to Tampa Bay&#8217;s 17-player practice squad, the 25-year-old safety expressed gratitude for the opportunity in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9YvlHbc7-eo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">a video posted to YouTube on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My time being with the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/362\" data-autotag=\"0975654b-7314-4c6a-8b1d-0052f65c0335\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Buccaneers<\/a> has been nothing but great,&#8221; Sanders said. &#8220;The city, my teammates, my coaches, everybody&#8217;s always poured in love and support towards me and I\u2019ll be forever grateful for that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sanders also expressed hope that he might find another opportunity to prove he belongs in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel like this is just part of my story to grow and do bigger and better things,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Whether it\u2019s finding another team, whether it\u2019s getting another opportunity in the NFL, it is what it is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But the 25-year-old also acknowledged he will be OK if this marks the end of his football career.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been talking to my agent and we\u2019re waiting on the next opportunity,&#8221; Sanders said. &#8220;If that\u2019s in the NFL, cool, but God has blessed me with a lot of talents to do other things other than football.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sanders mentioned music, acting and modeling as other areas of interest for him. He also credited his parents with helping him to stay well-rounded even as he dreamed of pursuing a professional football career.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the 25-year-old spoke about the existential reality of the limited time players face to carve out careers as professional athletes, especially in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel like in every athlete&#8217;s life, it becomes a point to where the game ends for you,&#8221; Sanders said. &#8220;And I&#8217;m not saying that&#8217;s what it is now. I&#8217;m just saying, mentally, I&#8217;m good because I know that I&#8217;ve got a lot of talents and I&#8217;m blessed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\">DEION SANDERS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/2025\/08\/26\/shilo-sanders-deion-sanders-release-buccaneers-colorado\/85835021007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;Praying&#8217; son Shilo gets another NFL chance after release<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sanders played in all three of the Buccaneers&#8217; preseason games and recorded three total tackles. However, his most notable play was of the negative variety. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/2025\/08\/23\/shilo-sanders-ejected-punch-buccaneers-bills\/85802773007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">He was ejected<\/a> from Tampa Bay&#8217;s third preseason game after after throwing a punch at Buffalo Bills tight end <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/players\/zach-davidson\/1283807\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Zach Davidson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It isn&#8217;t clear whether Sanders&#8217; ejection played a part in the Buccaneers&#8217; decision not to retain him on the team&#8217;s practice squad.<\/p>\n<p>It also isn&#8217;t clear whether Sanders will land with another NFL club. Most teams have filled out their 17-man practice squads, but last-minute shuffling or injuries could afford the 25-year-old safety an opportunity to sign another deal.<\/p>\n<p>Either way, Sanders is at peace with whatever the future brings and noted he was fortunate to get a chance to play for the Buccaneers \u2013 especially after watching his younger brother, Cleveland Browns quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/players\/shedeur-sanders\/1272321\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Shedeur Sanders<\/a>, endure a long wait to be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you to the Buccaneers for even giving me this opportunity,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You all saw how the draft was. Y&#8217;all know I&#8217;m lucky to even get a shot. Seeing how Shedeur went, I knew what was going to happen to me, being undrafted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was a great experience for me, and I\u2019m forever grateful for that,&#8221; Sanders later added of his time in Tampa Bay. &#8220;I\u2019m just staying in shape, staying ready for the next opportunity and we\u2019ll be ready for anything.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baker Mayfield gives advice for Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland As a former Cleveland quarterback, Baker Mayfield offers guidance&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[247,265,210,211,7,20842,248,267,88,6,35196,245,537,530,140,139,17,9,266,209,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-331054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-american-football","10":"tag-bay","11":"tag-buccaneers","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-hub","14":"tag-national","15":"tag-national-sports","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-nfl-hub","19":"tag-overall","20":"tag-overall-positive","21":"tag-positive","22":"tag-sanders","23":"tag-shedeur","24":"tag-shedeur-sanders","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-sports-news","27":"tag-tampa","28":"tag-tampa-bay","29":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","30":"tag-tampabay","31":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115123570950694907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}