Not every NFL scoop comes from traditional mainstream sources, and one of the biggest storylines around the Raiders for the next few months might have come this week from someone many NFL fans aren’t familiar with.
Nevin Shapiro is credited by many with the rise and fall of the University of Miami football program in the early 2000’s. According to reports, at least 72 University of Miami football players were alleged to have received impermissible benefits from Shapiro between 2002 and 2010. Among those players were Vince Wilfork, Jon Beason, Antrel Rolle, Devin Hester, Willis McGahee, the late Sean Taylor, and a host of others.
Shapiro was convicted of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme, among other felonies, and on June 7, 2011, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $82 million in restitution. He was transferred to home confinement in 2020 and is apparently back to rubbing elbows with important people in the sports world.
He appeared this week on The Pacman Jones Show and dropped a huge claim on the Raiders and Shedeur Sanders.
“People out there who might not be familiar with Nevin, [he] knows every major superstar that’s come out of Florida for the last 30 years,” co-host Evan Rosenblum said about Shapiro going into the segment. “You’re plugged in with GMs, you’re plugged in with programs, you’re plugged in with everybody.”
According to Shapiro, the Raiders aren’t going to have to fight for Sanders with the New York Giants because the Giants are locked in on University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward.
“I’m being told through reliable sources Cam Ward is going to the New York Giants. Guaranteed,” Shapiro said this week on The Pacman Jones Show. “And the University of Miami’s offensive coordinator is going with him. I’m telling you. Holler at me April 25th, whenever the draft is.”
Furthermore, Shapiro says Deion Sanders does not want Shedeur going to the Giants and wants his son playing in Las Vegas a year from now.
“I’m going to tell you from what’s been shared with me. Deion [Sanders] won’t let his kid go to the Giants. So right away, whether Shedeur is the better quarterback or not… Deion’s not letting his kid go to New York. He wants him on the Raiders. The Giants are taking Cam Ward and this is from reliable sources.”
Shapiro’s claims were probably the boldest statements we’ve heard about Sanders and the Raiders, but he isn’t the first to notice the stars have been lining up for Sanders to end up in Las Vegas.
On Monday, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said Shedeur’s interest in becoming a Raider is the worst-kept secret in sports.
“That feels like the worst kept secret in sports right now, that is that Shedeur Sanders wants to go to the Raiders,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up.
“The Raiders should want Shedeur Sanders. I do not believe the Raiders matter until they get a quarterback,” Orlovsky continued. “You are in a division with Patrick [Mahomes], you’re now in a division with [Jim] Harbaugh, and Justin Herbert, you’re now in a division with Sean Payton and Bo Nix. You don’t have a quarterback, so you are more than likely going to have the first pick in the draft. You have to go get a quarterback…”
And lastly, at least one Las Vegas insider believes Sanders is the heavy favorite to be the quarterback at the top of GM Tom Telesco’s draft board in April.
“If I had to pick today and not based on who would I pick, but just what I think if the Raiders keep the pick… I think it will be Shedeur Sanders,” Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast last week. “It’s who I believe the Raiders will pick. Again, that’s not me saying I don’t want them, I do want them. You’re asking me what I feel. I would say [Shedeur].”
