Shedeur Sanders was a lightning rod during his NFL rookie season with the Cleveland Browns, leading to an unprecedented windfall through jersey sales, trading cards and other licensing agreements thanks to a diehard personal fanbase. Sanders banked a record-breaking $17.7 million last season in group licensing income, according to the NFL Players Association annual report. The number shattered Tom Brady’s previous single-season high of $9.5 million during his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per Front Office Sports.
This licensing payout is 170% more than his father, Deion Sanders, will make during the 2026 season as Colorado’s coach, and pales in comparison to Sanders’ four-year rookie deal, which is approximately $4.6 million.
A fiercely loyal fanbase that has followed Sanders from his days as an All-Big 12 performer with the Buffaloes to the league helped detonate NFLPA royalty marks. The funds were paid to Sanders’ LLC — SS2 Legendary LLC — from May 2025 through February 2026. The document revealed that the biggest payment, $9.2 million, was made a few days after the 2025 NFL Draft.
In all, Sanders’ LLC received 13 total payments. After changing his uniform number from No. 12 to No. 2, fans sporting his home and away jerseys from last year will need to re-up their apparel again, and that’s another handsome development for Sanders.
What’s next for Sanders
Despite what his father called a “hellish” NFL journey, the former fifth-round pick is competing with Deshaun Watson amid what first-year Browns coach Todd Monken labels an open quarterback competition.
Sanders finished his rookie year with a 57% completion rate with 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also ran for 169 yards and a touchdown and was sacked 23 times with a passer rating near the bottom of the league behind an offensive front that underperformed.
“I think what you see is elite playmaking ability,” Monken said about Sanders. “That’s in him. You’ve seen it. We’ve seen it. You saw it in college. You saw it on tape last year. Sure, there’s a ways to go, but what rookie isn’t? I mean, what first-year player doesn’t have a long way to go? So I’m excited to get started with him and all of our quarterbacks and all of our players.”
Sanders started the final seven games of the season following an injury to fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
“Coach Monken’s great and all the other coaches on the staff are extremely great,” Sanders said. “They’re going to understand and embrace you just as a person, and then they push you each and every day in the meeting room, on the field, in the weight room. It’s a new vibe, a new energy.”
