Jerry Jones raves about Shedeur Sanders — but apparently won’t be drafting him

As the Shedeur Sanders slide continues, plenty of coaches and General Managers have been asked whether they’ll be the ones to stop the free fall.

On Friday night, Cowboys owner/G.M. Jerry Jones was asked whether he’s surprised that Shedeur remains available.

“Well, first of all, I don’t want to make an evaluation, but we thought and evaluated him extremely high in this draft,” Jones told reporters. “Now obviously, we have Dak [Prescott] at the highest paid player in the league. I have an edge. I know what winners or what winner that he’s got in his bloodline. I do know that, and consequently with my firsthand knowledge of my relationships over the years with Deion, and I know I’ve watched two or three ball games with his son. And so with my knowledge of them, I know where the character is there. Boy, it is great character. It is an unbelievable competitive winning character for sports. And so I can tell you that I don’t know how many scouts have visited with me about the character of the Sanders group, but they should. Because it is absolutely up with the very best it’s ever been in sport.”

Jerry then shared a story about Deion’s arrival in Dallas, 30 years ago.

“And by the way, I’m a big believer in osmosis,” Jones said. “A huge believer in osmosis. And especially when Deion came to sign with us when he was a free agent and had just left San Francisco. We were at the stadium getting ready to announce his signing. He was a free agent, Deion Sanders of the Cowboys. And we went down to the Cowboys locker room and man, there were 20 or 30 suit-types of people in there. There was Deion, and he had this boy. I’m not sure which son it was. It could easily have been [Shedeur]. And the whole time, 20 or 30 minutes before we did the press conference to announce Deion was going to be playing for the Dallas Cowboys, all he did was play with that boy back there in those lockers and spend his time with that boy. He wasn’t up there talking to a bunch of the guys or whatever. That’s all he was doing.

“It was just mesmerizing, and it was so genuine. And I remember thinking now, hey, there’s some real telltale there about where it goes. So I’m at the very top. If we’ve been in with the scouting, we’ve been interviewing people and what have you with that family. I stand at the top of the list. I don’t even need it in writing with Deion at all. And I know that’s not far from the tree there with him. And so I know what his stature is.”

Obviously, it wasn’t Shedeur when Deion came to Dallas in 1995. He’s only 23 years old. But the point is (or seems to be) that Jerry believes being Deion’s son and growing up with Deion’s constant involvement and influence becomes a positive factor in Shedeur’s NFL prospects.

“You say, well, where are you Jerry?” Jones said. “Well, you’re right, scratch your head. But it’s obvious. Dak, we’re there. So that’s there. But those calls light up if they happen to be coming my way, they’re going to talk firsthand knowledge of my experiences with him and my life with him over the last 20 or 30 years. And it hadn’t been one time, two times, three times, it’s been several times. And so I’m a big person about the character of the Sanders family.”

Still, at some point, Shedeur becomes a no-brainer. For any team. They usually say they take the best available player. With each passing pick, the potential gap between Shedeur and the other remaining prospects will keep getting wider.

Someone is going to get a steal, eventually. Why would Jerry pass on being the one to benefit from the disparity between evaluation and investment? Why would he instead encourage one of his competitors to claim the windfall that the Cowboys could enjoy instead?

The Cowboys won’t be back on the clock until round five, at pick No. 149. It sounds as if Jerry is already prepared to pass.