Buccaneers rookie safety Shilo Sanders’ roster spot is uncertain, with a key preseason game approaching.
Sanders owes over $11 million to John Darjean, stemming from a 2015 incident.
Darjean’s financial interest lies in Sanders making the team and earning a substantial NFL salary.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie safety Shilo Sanders might be a close call to make the team’s 53-man roster when the deadline comes to cut players next week. Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles recently said that Sanders is a ‘very hungry’ player but that this week would be ‘very important’ in determining who makes the cut, including a preseason game Aug. 23 against Buffalo.
In the meantime, perhaps nobody else has a bigger financial stake right now in what happens to Sanders than the man Sanders owes more than $11 million.
That man is John Darjean, a former security guard at Sanders’ school in Dallas when Sanders was 15 years old. Sanders, son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders, is still trying to get that debt erased in bankruptcy court after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2023. If Shilo Sanders succeeds in court, he can start over financially, free from that debt and with minimal damage to his bank account.
But if Darjean succeeds in court instead, Sanders will not be discharged of his debt to him. Darjean then could pursue debt collection against him after the case is over, including by having his wages garnished with the Buccaneers, according to experts contacted by USA TODAY Sports.
In that case, Darjean would want Sanders ‘to make as much money as possible – or at least enough to pay (Darjean’s) claim,” said Angela Littwin, a law professor and bankruptcy expert at the University of Texas.
Darjean therefore has a rooting interest in Sanders making the team even though the two are longtime adversaries in court. NFL teams must cut down their rosters to 53 active players on Aug. 26.
A bankruptcy judge later will make the call on Sanders’ $11 million debt, possibly by the end of the year.
Sanders, 25, went undrafted by NFL teams in April but signed a three-year contract with Tampa Bay for nearly $3 million.
Darjean declined comment on Sanders’ future prospects.
Why Shilo Sanders is going through bankruptcy
The debt stems from an incident that happened between Sanders and Darjean in September 2015. Darjean said in court documents previously that Sanders assaulted him with his elbow and fist when he was trying to confiscate his phone at school that day in 2015, resulting in permanent and severe injuries, including ongoing pain and incontinence. Records show he had to be transported to the hospital that day and then underwent spinal surgery a few days later.
Darjean sued Sanders in 2016, seeking damages for the injuries. In response, Sanders claimed self-defense and filed counterclaims. But the case dragged on during the pandemic and when it finally went to trial in 2022, Sanders didn’t show up for it. In 2020, Sanders let go of his attorneys in the case, who otherwise would have notified him of the trial and could have helped him avoid the worst-case outcome that happened next.
The trial went on without him and ended with a default judgment against Sanders of $11.89 million, to be paid to Darjean.
Then when Darjean moved to collect on that debt in 2023, Sanders filed for bankruptcy to try to get it wiped away in a discharge.
What’s next in Shilo Sanders’ bankruptcy case?
Debtors generally file for bankruptcy to automatically “stay” or stop debt collection against them and to discharge their debts. This is allowed under the law and sometimes is used as a tactic. But there are some circumstances in which debt is considered by law to be ‘nondischargeable,’ meaning a debtor can’t erase it in bankruptcy court.
Darjean cited this in two complaints he filed against Sanders in bankruptcy court as part of his effort to get paid what he’s owed. One argues that Sanders omitted or concealed assets in his disclosures and therefore should be denied a discharge under the law – an accusation Sanders’ attorneys denied. The other complaint argues the debt is nondischargeable because it stems from a “willful and malicious’ injury.
The judge must determine in the latter case if it was a “willful and malicious” injury and not self-defense. That judge is expected to do so after hearing witness testimony and other evidence in a mini-trial about what happened that day 10 years ago. No trial date has been set.
Possible outcomes for Shilo Sanders
If the judge finds credible evidence that Sanders acted in self-defense, Sanders could get the debt discharged with no further debt collection or future wage garnishments. In this scenario, Darjean would only get a small fraction of what he was owed – all from certain assets owned by Sanders before his bankruptcy filing.
But if the judge determines it was not self-defense and was instead “willful and malicious,” then he could rule the debt is nondischargeable and Sanders would be on the hook to pay the full judgment even after the bankruptcy case is over.
“Nondischargeable debt survives after the bankruptcy, so if the $11 million is deemed nondischargeable, Darjean could continue debt collection once the bankruptcy case is over and the automatic stay is lifted,” said Christopher Hampson, associate law professor and bankruptcy expert at the University of Florida. “After the bankruptcy, Darjean could try to collect on the $11 million by serving a writ of garnishment on Sanders’ employer, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, directing the Bucs to redirect a portion of Sanders’ paycheck to Darjean. In that legal action, Sanders would be protected by federal law, which limits garnishment to 25% of his post-tax income.”
It also could be much less than that, depending on the circumstances. State laws could help further restrict what Darjean could garnish from Sanders.
What if Shilo Sanders doesn’t make the cut in Tampa?
He could end up on the team practice squad or he could get a chance with another team. If he doesn’t pan out in the NFL, it’s not clear what he would do that would pay as well as being a rising star on an active NFL roster.
That’s why it’s in Darjean’s interest for Sanders to make the team and perform well in the NFL, building wealth that he could pursue to satisfy that judgment if it’s not discharged.
But pursuing debt collection and trying to seize personal property to satisfy a judgment can be a cat-and-mouse game if the debtor is not willing to cooperate with the creditor. Sanders could try to thwart debt collection through legal loopholes and lawyers.
“Most people honestly don’t have enough personal property to make it worth going after,” said Theresa J. Pulley Radwan, a law professor at Stetson University in Florida. “The stuff you and I own probably isn’t valuable enough to recoup a significant judgment.”
It’s different if the debtor is wealthy. Future success in the NFL would ensure that. Tampa Bay opens the season Sept. 7 at Atlanta.
Sanders previously declined to discuss the case other than telling reporters in 2024 that ‘at the end of the day everybody is gonna know the truth about everything.’
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com