Former NFL star linked to Eli Manning trade talks chances of Shedeur Sanders turning down Titans for Giants

The Tennessee Titans they have their pick among the top of the crop with the No. 1 pick in April, and there’s a pretty decent chance it will be Colorado star running back Shedeur Sanders.

That’s who Shawn Merriman personally, I’d agree with him – even though Travis Hunter is a close second – but Merriman knows all too well that the no. 1 does not necessarily guarantee that you will get your type.

Merriman, of course, ended up being part of the infamous Eli Manning-Phillip Rivers trade in 2004. Manning was adamant that he would never play for the Chargers, but the team, then in San Diego, drafted him with the first pick anyway.

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Ultimately, after the Giants selected Rivers, Big Blue sent Rivers, a 2004 third-rounder and 2005 first-rounder, to San Diego for Manning. That first-round pick became Merriman (although the Giants aren’t complaining).

The Giants were in a great position to own the No. 1 pick, which led to Sanders himself actually being gifted a pair of Giants football boots for his bowl game. New York then won their third game of the season, losing control of the top pick, and are now slated to pick third.

But Merriman seems to believe there’s a chance Sanders’ father and head coach, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, could play a role in repeating history with the same team from 21 years ago.

TITANS, WITH NO. 1 DRAFT SELECTION, FIRE GENERAL MANAGER WAS LEAD BY CARTHON

“I think Deion is smart when he said that the teams need to take it easy on what they plan to do… I think Prime is smart enough to at least say we’re not going to just go with anyone, right?” Merriman said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. “But then again, when you get drafted, I think things change, and anywhere in that top five pick is a real blessing for anybody.”

Deion himself said “multiple IDIOTS … are going to say things that aren’t true at all about where I’d like” his sons to play at the next level — but he didn’t rule out the possibility that he won’t have an impact.

“If I say it, I will say it directly to whom it may concern, not to attention seekers,” he said on Xu last week.

Merriman will get another look at Sanders before the draft at the East-West Shrine Bowl, as his own production company, Lights Out Sports TV, will broadcast live game practices later this month. Merriman got into television after his playing days ended more than a decade ago and saw the Shrine Bowl as the perfect opportunity to showcase his other dream.

“To get the opportunity now to have the live rights exclusively for us for the East-West Shrine Bowl practices, it’s like I wanted to play football as a kid. I dreamed about it. I wanted to play in the NFL, and now to be in this space that now, it’s my ideas, it’s my production, I put it all together, and to be able to come into this space and get someone like the east-west bowl shrine, the 100th annual, that’s a huge, huge deal for us and we want to go out and do this week the most interactive training anyone has ever seen,” Merriman said.

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The top pick would have to be either Sanders or Cam Ward, the latter of whom some sportsbooks currently have as the odds-on favorite. The Cleveland Browns, who own the second pick, are a true wild card with Deshaun Watson still on the roster, so there may be a chance Sanders still falls to the G-Men. Deion also played professional baseball with the New York Yankees, so there’s already a tie to the Big Apple.

The Giants announced Monday that both general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll will return for a fourth season despite going 9-25 over the past two seasons combined. Since joining the team before the 2022 season, they have yet to select a quarterback.

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