Deion Sanders Cuts Unnamed Players From Colorado After 41-7 Loss, School Says Roster Moves Not Finalized

Deion Sanders confirmed Tuesday that Colorado has dismissed players from its football program following the Buffaloes' 41-7 loss to Northwestern on Saturday, September 19. He didn't name names. He didn't give a number. Colorado hasn't either.

"There's a few guys that are not on the team anymore, so you know," Sanders told reporters, according to Newsweek. The school followed up with a statement saying "any potential roster changes have not been finalized" and that an updated roster would come out later this week, per the Associated Press.

Roundtable.io reported, citing unnamed sources, that three players are gone. No other outlet has confirmed a specific number or identified any player by name. Until Colorado releases that roster, the actual scope of the dismissals is unconfirmed.

What Sanders Said Actually Happened

Sanders was clear the decision wasn't just about Saturday's blowout. "It's never one thing," he said, according to multiple outlets including Sports Illustrated and the AP. "I'm one of the most loving and giving and forgiving men you could ever meet, but when you start having conduct detrimental to the team, you don't care about the team, you care about you. I have a problem with that."

He tied it back to last season. "A year ago, I didn't put my foot down in it enough," Sanders said. "It lingered a little bit. Then it imploded. I'm not doing that anymore." Colorado finished 3-9 in 2025 after a 9-4 run in 2024 that included Shedeur Sanders at quarterback and Heisman winner Travis Hunter.

Sanders also took blame for the loss itself. "I don't push the buck and push the blame on anyone else. It's on me," he said, per the AP.

The Locker Room Laughter and the Viral Video

The dismissals follow two separate incidents. First, Sanders was visibly frustrated Saturday night watching players react to the loss without what he considered appropriate seriousness. "I don't understand how in the world you can find joy, or you can find a laughing matter when I'm right behind you walking into the locker room," he said that night, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg as relayed by Heavy.

Second, a video surfaced of Colorado defensive back Ben Finneseth mocking Northwestern's temporary stadium before kickoff, calling it a place that "sounds like a f---ing library." Finneseth apologized Tuesday before Sanders spoke, according to the AP: "It was childish. It was a stupid thing that I said... I promise you guys that it will not happen again." Sanders shook his hand afterward and told him, "that's why I love you."

Ground News reported that linebacker Tyler Martinez backed the dismissals, saying "if it's going to help us win, then we gotta do it," and that players approached Sanders on Monday asking him to be proactive about rooting out problems before they compound.

The Fair Question Nobody's Answered Yet

Roundtable.io raised a point worth taking seriously: cutting players after one bad loss, without naming who or why beyond "conduct," puts a lot of trust in Sanders' judgment without much transparency. Colorado has churned its roster heavily under Sanders, with 44 new players arriving this offseason alone. A coach who rebuilds his roster every year and then cuts more players mid-season after a blowout is a coach whose program still hasn't found stability three years into his tenure. That's a fair criticism, and it's one Sanders himself acknowledged obliquely by admitting he "didn't put my foot down" soon enough last year.

The counter to that: Sanders is on record taking accountability for the loss itself, not just blaming players, and the move has at least some vocal support inside the locker room, per Martinez's comments to Ground News. Whether cutting players over locker-room demeanor addresses Colorado's actual on-field problems, which included four turnovers and 423 yards allowed against Northwestern, is a separate question the roster move doesn't answer.

Colorado is 2-1 and travels to Waco to face Baylor on Saturday, a game in which the Buffaloes are 9.5-point underdogs, according to Heavy's reporting on FanDuel's odds. Ranked matchups against Texas Tech and Utah follow. Colorado says the finalized, updated roster will be public later this week, at which point the number and identity of the dismissed players should become clear.