The stars have been out for the WNBA Playoffs, in particular during the ongoing series between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces. Already this postseason, we've seen Jason Sudeikis, Stephen Curry, Carmelo Anthony, rapper E-40, and a cohort of Dallas Mavericks sitting courtside at games, and last night, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis and Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders added their names to that illustrious list.
The point of intrigue here isn't just that Sanders and Davis attended the game. What has football fans talking is the exchange that these two had following the game.
Naturally, this interaction has sparked a frenzied reaction on the internet, as the Raiders and the Colorado Buffaloes are two of the more public teams in the sport. It also helps that there is a distinct possibility that if they had the opportunity to do so, the Raiders would jump at the chance to select Shedeur Sanders.
In a recent ESPN poll of 20 NFL scouts and executives, Shedeur Sanders (9 votes) was the top vote-getter to the question of who they believed would be the first quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders, who is currently 7th in the country in passing yards, edged out the likes of Carson Beck (5 votes), Jalen Milroe (4 votes), Quinn Ewers (1 vote) and Cam Ward (1 vote).
The Raiders are certainly one of the teams who will be eager to find their quarterback of the future in the 2025 NFL Draft. Nobody expects Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell to be the long-term answer, but if you believe what the odds are saying, Vegas may not be in position to select Sanders. According to ESPN's Football Power Index, the Raiders are currently projected to pick 10th in the 2025 NFL Draft, and have just a 20 percent chance to secure a top five pick.
Raiders, Sanders could be heading toward partnership
This is not the first time that Shedeur Sanders and the Las Vegas Raiders have been linked. If anything, this encounter between Sanders and Mark Davis has just added fuel to the fire that the son of the NFL Hall of Famer could soon be Vegas-bound. Back in May, shortly after the 2024 NFL Draft, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projected Sanders to wind up with the Raiders in an early 2025 mock draft. From a personality standpoint, Sanders feels like the perfect Raiders QB.
There's plenty of football left to be played this season, both for the Raiders and the Buffaloes. By next April, it may seem insane to suggest that Shedeur Sanders could end up in Las Vegas. But for now, it's perfectly reasonable that this is a partnership fans would be thinking about.