Less than a month ago, Shedeur Sanders’s slip to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft stunned the football world. The drop left fans and experts scratching their heads, but for one die-hard Colorado Buffaloes supporter, it was more than just shocking—it was unacceptable. That disgruntled fan took the matter to court.
The fan filed a $100 million lawsuit against the NFL. In a wild twist to the legal drama, after initially filing the lawsuit on May 7, the fan has now submitted an emergency motion for early discovery. He might be hoping to dig into exactly what caused Sanders’s dramatic draft-day slide. So, what’s next?
On May 19, the plaintiff, John Doe, filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The reason behind this filing? Apparently, “the urgency, public interest, and volume of evidence likely to be in the exclusive possession of the NFL.” Sounds intense, right?
Fast forward to Monday, and ML Football took to its X (formerly Twitter) account to share the update, saying, “REPORT: The John Doe who sued the #NFL over Shedeur Sanders’ draft slide filed an emergency motion citing urgency & public interest. He is seeking early discovery, requesting NFL emails, texts, scouting reports, draft boards, recordings, media comms, prank call probes. WOW.” Yeah, they weren’t holding back on that ‘WOW.’
REPORT: The John Doe who sued the #NFL over Shedeur Sanders’ draft slide filed an emergency motion citing urgency & public interest.
He is seeking early discovery, requesting NFL emails, texts, scouting reports, draft boards, recordings, media comms, prank call probe.
WOW pic.twitter.com/LD9dAU0No3
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 20, 2025
John Doe has requested a range of specific documents. At the top of his list are internal communications—emails, texts, and memos—between NFL executives, team owners, general managers, and scouts regarding Shedeur Sanders, dated from January 1, 2024, to May 1, 2025. He’s also seeking scouting reports, draft boards, interview notes, and quarterback evaluations used during the 2025 NFL Draft.
Additionally, Doe wants recordings from team meetings, draft room discussions, and combine sessions involving Sanders. He’s also requesting any communication with media outlets about how the league portrayed Sanders publicly ahead of the draft. Notably, he’s requesting details about who made a prank call to Sanders and how the NFL allegedly leaked his personal number to waiver wires. He also wants access to a 61-page arbitration report that reportedly includes evidence of collusion against Black quarterbacks.
Doe has also filed a separate motion to prevent his case from being dismissed as frivolous. To support this, he cited other high-profile racial discrimination cases against the NFL, including Trotter v. The National Football League, Flores et al. v. NFL, and Colin Kaepernick’s 2019 lawsuit. So far, the NFL has not responded. Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders has officially begun his journey with the Cleveland Browns.
Shedeur Sanders officially joins the Browns: A new era begins!
Shedeur Sanders, the former Colorado quarterback, just sealed the deal with the Cleveland Browns by signing a four-year rookie contract worth $4.6 million. The deal also includes a $447,380 signing bonus, so not too shabby! The Browns picked Sanders in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting him with the 142nd overall pick. It was a bit of a shocker, considering that not too long ago, people were hyping him up as a surefire top-ten pick. But hey, the draft is unpredictable, and what’s done is done.
NFL, American Football Herren, USA Cleveland Browns Rookie Minicamp May 10, 2025 Berea, OH, USA Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders 12 talks to the media during rookie minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Berea CrossCountry Mortgage Campus OH USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKenxBlazex 20250510_kab_bk4_015
With his signing, the Browns have now inked all their rookies, making Sanders the last piece of the puzzle. As training camp approaches, he’s set to battle it out for a spot on the depth chart. Right now, he’s likely starting way down at QB4 or maybe even QB5, but don’t count him out just yet.
A four-year deal shows the Browns see some potential here and are willing to invest in him for the long haul. It’s all going to come down to how he performs in camp. If Sanders can show out and prove he’s got what it takes, it might just shake things up for the front office. Time to put in that work!
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