Denver Sports hosts have wild theory on Prime and the Raiders

If Louis Riddick becomes the next general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders, Coach Prime is as good as gone, according to Denver Sports’ Josh Dover and Cecil Lammey’s theory thrown out there during their midday show on Thursday.

Earlier in the day the Raiders fired their general manager Tom Telesco after just one season. That comes on the heels of the team sacking head coach Antonio Pierce earlier in the week. The team was the lone one in the AFC West to not make the playoffs and finished 4-13. Not only do they need brand new brass, they need a quarterback but because they won their penultimate game the team selects at No. 6. That places them behind where the quarterbacks are expected to go as many believe there are only two first-round quarterbacks in this draft.

With the Raiders in a pickle, there’s a possible solution in a quarterback-head coach package deal. And lucky for Raiders fans, owner Mark Davis already has a relationship with that gunslinger—Sheuder Sanders. The two met at a Las Vegas Aces game, a team he also owns, with the executive telling the quarterback that he watches all of his games. On top of that, co-owner of the team and Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady has been a mentor for Sanders let alone the relationship he has with his father and NFL legend Deion Sanders. So there was already some smoke around the Raiders for a landing spot for the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback, who will be selected high in this year’s NFL Draft.

But then comes Riddick, who Sanders tweeted about earlier this month in a very positive light. Sanders was briefly a teammate of Riddick though his post-playing career as an analyst is what most know him for. It’s a job Deion Sanders had himself before becoming a coach. The two are obviously close and Sanders wanted Riddick to nail his GM interview with the New York Jets. Could another interview and perhaps an offer be made to Riddick for their GM gig now that the role is open?

Jets Please don’t mess this up and I pray this was a real interview and not that other thang y’all do. This man deserves a REAL CHANCE! He is knowledge & Class personified! #CoachPrime https://t.co/Y1yrNDD4BB

— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) January 3, 2025

Sanders said on Good Morning America on Wednesday that he actually would consider leaving Boulder to coach in the NFL under a specific scenario.

“The only way I would consider is to coach my SONS,” he said. “Not son, sons… I love Colorado, I love my Buffaloes, I love everything we’re building. I love Boulder, Colorado, I do.”

Coach Prime on the chance of possibly coaching his sons in the NFL👀:

“ The only way I would consider, is to coach my SONS.”

🎥@GMA pic.twitter.com/Ye5FyvmtOC

— GUCCE🦬🐦‍⬛ (@gucceCU) January 8, 2025

Meanwhile, former Buffs quarterback and current college football analyst Joel Klatt told Stokley and Evans with Mark Schlereth on Wednesday that athletic director Rick George has an extension on the table.

“I’m hopeful he stays, I think he has a very very very good offer in front of him from Colorado, I don’t know why it hasn’t been signed,” Klatt shared.

Sanders initial deal was for five years at $29.5 million though there are all sorts of other stipulations that call for more funding to the program and include bonuses for achievements. He earned at least $450,000 worth of bonuses this season alone. With how much money Colorado has made with Prime leading the Buffaloes, as well as the team’s success, athletic director Rick George is apparently ready to tear up the deal to sign a new one. But since he hasn’t signed an extension, even with three more years left, there’s speculation—especially given his son has just graduated and is expected to be a top-three pick in the draft. If Prime left he would owe the school $8 million but that would be easily payable by an NFL owner desperate enough to land his son and promise fans a turnaround like the one we’ve seen in Boulder.

So if Dover and Cecil’s dots are connected, Riddick gets the Raiders gig and then hires his friend Coach Prime to lead the team. The two then scheme to land both Sheuder and Shilo Sanders—and perhaps Travis Hunter too.