Report: NFL fined Falcons and Jeff Ulbrich over leak of Shedeur Sanders’ phone number

Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son Jax recently found former University of Colorado star signal-caller Shedeur Sanders’ phone number on his father’s iPad and proceeded to prank call Sanders, who was still waiting to hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft at the time.

The younger Ulbrich pretended to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and told Sanders that he would “have to wait a little bit longer” to get drafted but that the Saints would select him with their next pick. The younger Ulbrich then hung up on Sanders, who was left confused by the phone call.

Just days removed from the prank call, the NFL has handed down a major fine to the elder Ulbrich and another fine the Falcons organization over the leak of Sanders’ number. According to Tom Pelissero, the Falcons have been fined $250,000, while the elder Ulbrich has been fined $100,000.

The younger Ulbrich, who’s 21 years old, has since issued a public apology for pranking Sanders.

Sanders ended up getting drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 144 overall pick in the draft. Cleveland traded up in the fifth round to draft the quarterback and dealt the No. 166 and No. 192 selections for the opportunity to snag him.

The fact that the 23-year-old slid to the fifth round was one of the more notable storylines of the draft. There are plenty of folks who consider Sanders to be among the most talented players at his position in his draft class, and for good reason. He threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions for the Buffaloes in the 2024 collegiate season.

Sanders could see significant playing time out the gate for Cleveland considering the lack of talent that the Browns have at the all-important quarterback position. Cleveland played four quarterbacks in the 2024 season, and none of them enjoyed much success. For perspective, the Browns’ quartet of signal-callers threw more combined interceptions than touchdowns.

The NFL was perhaps right to hand down harsh punishments to the Falcons and the elder Ulbrich, and hopefully no incidents of a similar nature will take place in future drafts.