The NFL can be brutal on rookies, and Shilo Sanders is discovering that firsthand. Four months ago, the former Colorado safety slipped through all seven rounds of the 2025 draft, then latched on with Tampa Bay as a priority undrafted free agent for a three-year deal worth just under $3 million. The signing looked smart for a franchise that hadn’t taken a safety in April. Yet, the path from camp body to 53-man roster has been notoriously steep for Deion Sanders’ son.

Through two preseason games, Shilo held his own while fighting for the fourth-safety slot behind Antoine Winfield Jr., Tykee Smith, and Christian Izien. That progress unraveled in Saturday’s finale against the Buffalo Bills. Mid-second quarter, tight end Zach Davidson locked him up on a run play. In a video that is now viral, the Bills’ tight end was seen pushing Sanders even after Elijah Moore, who just caught a 1-yard pass from Shane Buechele, was tackled. Sanders, clearly frustrated, responded with a swing on the left side of Davidson’s helmet, drawing an immediate flag and ejection. “You can’t throw punches in this league—that’s inexcusable. They’re going to get you every time. You’ve got to grow from that,” Todd Bowles rightly put later. Unfortunately, it got Shilo long before he’d anticipated.

On August 24, ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news on Instagram with the caption: “Buccaneers informed rookie safety Shilo Sanders that he is being waived, per his agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey, who added, ‘we’re hoping he gets claimed on waivers.'” What’s more notable was Deion Sanders quietly double-tapped the post, a digital nod that also served as an endorsement of his son’s next step: Waiting out the 24-hour waiver window, hoping one of the other 31 clubs claims his contract. It signaled Dad’s confidence that a claim, or at minimum a practice-squad offer, is coming.

For the unversed: If a player is “claimed on waivers”, it simply means that their new team inherits the player’s contract with their last team. But, if a player clears waivers, that means he becomes a free agent and is free to sign a contract with any team (including the practice squad of his last team).

Being waived this late in August is a gut punch for any undrafted rookie. While history shows undrafted safeties do catch on elsewhere, each misstep narrows the margin for error. For Shilo, the immediate goal is simply landing in a new locker room before Week 1. However, the longer-term challenge for Shilo is proving Saturday’s lapse was an aberration, not a red flag.

All told, the weekend’s events are a sharp detour for a player carrying both his own NFL dreams and the weight of a Hall-of-Fame surname. Whether a fresh start comes via waiver claim or a practice-squad invite, Sanders now enters the league’s proving-ground phase, one more chance to show he belongs, with every snap under a microscope.

Silent on Shilo, loud on sneakers

Deion Sanders’ social media timeline has been full of swooshes lately: On the same weekend his son was tossed from the Buccaneers-Bills preseason game, the HoF’er reposted Nike’s tease of a retro “Must Be the Money” Diamond Turf drop, complete with vintage footage and a swipe-up link to the August 29 release. That push fits a broader strategy Prime has followed since re-linking with the Swoosh in 2023; every new colorway, from the Falcons-inspired DT Max ’96 to the upcoming “Emerald” Diamond Turf, gets an Instagram boost from the Colorado coach, reinforcing the idea that his larger-than-life persona is as much a brand as a biography.

What’s conspicuously missing from those feeds is any mention of Shilo’s meltdown in Buffalo. The rookie safety, already a long shot to make Tampa Bay’s 53, was ejected for throwing a punch and then waived the next day. National outlets have noted that Coach Prime—normally quick to defend or celebrate his kids- stayed radio-silent while Todd Bowles called the act “inexcusable” and Shilo’s agents scrambled for a waiver claim. For fans who see the Sanders family as a single, media-savvy unit, the contrast feels jarring.

The optics invite uncomfortable questions about priorities. Is Prime Time leveraging his celebrity precisely when it matters most for business, or is he deliberately letting Shilo fight his own NFL battle? Either way, the split screen is striking: On one side, Deion’s polished rollout of a 1990s silhouette that still prints money; on the other, a 25-year-old undrafted free agent wondering if any team will claim his contract before Tuesday’s deadline. For a family brand built on swagger and togetherness, the silence may speak louder than any Instagram story ever could.