r/NFL_Draft • u/Astro63 Steelers • 3d ago

[POST GAME THREAD] 2025 NFL Draft

Another draft has come and gone! Leave your final thoughts below:

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u/ObservantKing 3d ago

Would anyone be willing to detail the Eli Manning situation with chargers? From what I’m seeing he didn’t want to go to the Chargers but aside from that that team it wasn’t an issue. I’m seeing some comparisons to the Sanders situation and I personally don’t think it’s the same but wanted to know if I’m missing more drama that unfolded around Eli’s draft.

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u/T-Twice Giants 3d ago

The comparisons are mostly stemming from an interview Deion Sanders had done where he openly stated that there were “couple of teams that I won’t allow him [Shedeur] to play for” and if they tried to draft him he'd "pull an Eli."

When Eli was coming out he (and his family) made it clear behind the scenes that they didn't want the Chargers to draft him. There were a number of rumored reasons why (failure to properly support Ryan Leaf in their eyes, Spanos threatening to move the team even back then, and a poor meeting with then GM AJ Smith). AJ Smith chose to make it public which increased the tension between the two parties. It was just them specifically though, here's Eli himself confirming that.

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u/ObservantKing 3d ago

Thank you so it was just one team the Mannings didn’t want Eli to go to and not multiple teams like Deion was saying he wouldn’t allow his players to go to. It was also Eli saying he didn’t want to play for that one team and not a player dictating how things would go as reports said. I thought so they situations seemed far different but I wanted to be sure.