Sorry. Don’t buy it. Deion Sanders and Jerry Jones are more effective business partners apart than they could ever be under one roof. When Coach Prime needs leverage, he talks to Jerry. When Jerry needs clicks, he calls Deion.
Why ruin the perfect relationship by moving in together?
“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing,” Sanders, the CU Buffs’ popular second-year football coach, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday night. “I love Jerry and believe in Jerry. After you hang up, and process it, and think about it, it’s intriguing. But I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body and the community.”
So why haven’t you signed the deal?
Like any good negotiation, this one’s going to be played out via surrogates in the national media until somebody blinks. CU has FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt, a Buff-for-life who says an extension offer’s been on the table. Coach Prime has Stephen A. Smith. Buffs AD Rick George doesn’t need a mediator so much as a moderator.
I’ve heard the Curt Cignetti argument. If Indiana’s football coach, after cribbing the Prime Method, is worth $8 million annually through 2032 to the Hoosiers, shouldn’t Sanders be worth at least as much for hoisting the Buffs back onto the college football map?
Absolutely. But that benchmark runs into two problems. One, IU made the CFP Playoffs, which history says it might never do again for the next 10-12 years. Two, when the Hoosiers open the safe, they’ve got Big Ten money for Scrooge McDuck to swim around in, with an estimated annual average media payout estimated at $72 million, with at least another $21 million via the College Football Playoff. CU’s estimated television revenue take for ’24-’25 was projected at $22 million, with at least another $12 million via the CFP.
George already joked that he spent money he didn’t have to land Prime for five years and $29.5 million in the first place. How far out are the Buffs willing to max out the credit card?
It’s not that CU hasn’t tried. Sanders took home an additional $150,000 this season for hitting the six-victory threshold, another $100,000 each for wins seven, eight and nine and $150,000 for the Alamo Bowl invite — $600,000 for on-field success.
Last winter, George gave Coach Prime a $250,000 “employee recognition” bonus following a 4-8 season in 2023. That gift, which wasn’t even a part of Sanders’ contract, was justified for drawing TV eyeballs, putting butts in seats, pulling in media coverage and selling merch.
And that TV-eyeballs thing is important. If a college football Super League or Premier League is in the works by 2034 or ’35, it’ll be a made-for-broadcast circuit, crafted and designed to maximize ratings and revenue. The only way a 48-team or 50-team Premier League is taking CU is if either Sanders is still coaching the team or the Buffs remain nationally relevant as a result of the Coach Prime makeover. They’ve got to spend the better part of the next decade either in, or around, the CFP bracket.
Given the general “meh” of the Big 12 and the Buffs’ current trajectory, that last one isn’t hard to picture. CU’s finally found its football sweet spot, the best of both worlds: A conference that guarantees the winner a seat at the CFP table, and a fight card that doesn’t have a single old-money blue blood swinging a bigger stick.
To put it another way, the Big 12 asks you to be better than Arizona State, Iowa State, BYU, Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Utah. The AFC West asks you to be better than Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Bo Nix. The NFC East asks you to be better than Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels.
Oh, I don’t doubt that Jerry is staring at his wit’s end. America’s had just about enough of America’s Team. Jones was loudly booed in his own building during the Texas-Ohio State Cotton Bowl matchup last week. Houston Texans fans invaded Jerry World for the Governor’s Cup showdown in late November, which is a little like Rockies fans taking over Dodgers Stadium. Thanksgiving Day prices for nosebleed seats on the secondary market, which usually hover in the $200-$400 range, went for $50-$80 in 2024.
Coach Prime’s buyout dropped on Jan. 1 from $10 million to $8 million at any point through New Year’s Eve 2025. It slips to $5 million on New Year’s Day 2026. For Jones, that’s tip money.
The internet has already worked out trades that would ship Dak Prescott to the Titans for the No. 1 pick, which would then presumably be used by Dallas to take Shedeur Sanders, and away we go.
Only in real life, it’s not that simple — and I can give you 104 million reasons why. Per Spotrac, $104 million is Dak’s dead cap hit for the Cowboys if you trade him, or basically twice what the Broncos just weathered this past season after the Russell Wilson divorce. And that’s assuming you can make a deal in the first place, because Prescott also reportedly has a “no-trade” clause in his deal, too.
No. 4 holds all the cards, and Jones is becoming a desperate man. But Prime shouldn’t be.
“You know what? The only way I would consider (the NFL) is to coach my sons,” Sanders told “Good Morning America” recently. “Not son, sons. I love CU. I love my Buffaloes, I love everything we’re doing and we’re building and I love Boulder, Colorado.”
So why haven’t you signed it? The Big 12 is begging for an overlord. If Coach Prime loves BoCo that much, he’ll put a ring on it.
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