Deion Sanders has a bone to pick with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Hall of Famer and Colorado head coach revealed on The Barbershop podcast that the Jaguars never once reached out to him for insight on Travis Hunter before trading up to select him second overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Even a guy like Travis Hunter, being drafted to Jacksonville, and I’ve had him for the last three,” Sanders said. “Don’t you think you would want to talk to me to let me know, to ask me how — what gets him going and what backs him off and, and what, like, you wouldn’t want to know that?”
It’s a fair question. Sanders coached Hunter at both Jackson State and Colorado, watching him blossom into a Heisman Trophy winner. The Jaguars, meanwhile, paid a king’s ransom to land him — sending the No. 5 overall pick, the 36th pick, the 126th pick, and a 2026 first-rounder to the Cleveland Browns to move up to No. 2. You’d think a team that mortgaged that much draft capital would want to know everything about their new star.
Instead, the Jaguars went all-in on Hunter without consulting the man who knew him best. The early returns have been mixed at best. Hunter played both sides of the ball in his rookie season but struggled to stay healthy, appearing in just seven games. He finished with 298 receiving yards and one touchdown on offense, plus 15 tackles and three passes defended on defense. Not exactly the dominant two-way force Jacksonville expected.
The Jaguars did enjoy a remarkable turnaround, going 13-4 after a 4-13 disaster the year before. But that success came largely in spite of Hunter’s contributions, not because of them. The team’s front office clearly believed they knew better than Sanders in how to develop the phenom. Maybe history will prove them right, but the early evidence has fans more nervous than excited.
Sanders’ comments come amid a broader pattern of NFL teams bypassing him for intel. He also noted that the Cleveland Browns never spoke to him about his son, Shedeur Sanders, before or after drafting him. It’s a trend that has Sanders demanding face time with coaches to ensure his players get proper development.
For Hunter, the Jaguars have already confirmed he’ll continue playing both sides of the ball in 2026, a testament to their belief in his unique skill set. But if they had just picked up the phone, they might have learned a thing or two about what makes him tick — and what could make him the superstar they paid for.
