For the first time in, well, forever, Deion Sanders will oversee a quarterback competition in 2025.
As Colorado prepares for its Alamo Bowl appearance against BYU on Dec. 28 in San Antonio, it will be the last time Buffaloes star quarterback Shedeur Sanders takes the field in black and gold before he enters the NFL draft. His dad has a plan in place for who Shedeur’s successor next year will be.
A month after the Buffaloes landed five-star quarterback Julian “JuJu” Lewis, one of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the 2025 recruiting cycle, they landed a veteran expected to go head-to-head with the highly sought-after youngster. On Wednesday, Kaidon Salter’s agent Cleo Floyd confirmed to The Athletic that they had informed Colorado of the former Liberty quarterback’s commitment to the Buffaloes.
The 21-year-old was the Conference USA MVP in 2023, leading the Flames to a 13-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl appearance against Oregon.
Salter, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound dual-threat quarterback, entered the transfer portal on Dec. 2 and leaves Liberty as one of its best players in program history. Salter accounted for 66 total touchdowns and 6,438 yards of total offense in the last two seasons for the Flames. He was also named Group of 5 Player of the Year in 2023. Salter entered his name in the portal after the conclusion of the 2023 season but opted to return to Liberty for another season in 2024.
Once both Lewis and Salter arrive in Boulder, they’ll be vying to replace Shedeur Sanders, who is projected by many to be one of the top picks in the NFL Draft this spring. Sanders’ No. 1 tenet for a QB is someone who knows what it’s like to win.
“People forget that category when you’re looking at quarterbacks. Are they winners?” Sanders said. “We have one right now (Shedeur) and we’ve got one coming in (Lewis). And we got one campus right now as well (Salter). They’re winners. That’s the intangible you want.”
Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur also addressed the media during the team’s bowl prep and said they were targeting an experienced quarterback with one year left of eligibility to come in. Salter fits the mold the Buffs were after. Shurmur was asked how he expects Lewis to get acclimated once he officially enrolls in January.
“I think we need to do our very best to get the best players in here at that position,” Shurmur said. “We want to be a little bit greedy about it. Obviously, JuJu’s future is unbelievable and I’m certainly looking forward to working with him. He’s got a bright future and we’ll see how quickly that happens. But at some point here I think we need to add another quarterback.”
Shedeur Sanders’ prowess as Colorado’s quarterback made an impact on who would like to follow in his footsteps. He finished with 35 touchdown passes and eight interceptions, threw for 3,926 yards and was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country completing 74.2 percent of his passes. The Buffaloes were also the fourth-ranked passing offense in college football.
Required reading
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(Photo: Helen Comer / USA Today)
