Shedeur Sanders earned record $17.7 million in group licensing income as rookie

Shedeur Sanders was a fifth round pick by the Cleveland Browns last year, but that didn’t exactly hurt his earning potential in the end. Sanders ended up starting seven games in 2025 and will compete for the job in 2026 with draft classmate Dillon Gabriel and veteran Deshaun Watson.

While he was just 3-4 on the field, Sanders won big time off the field, according to a report from Front Office Sports’ Daniel Kaplan. Sanders’ reported income in group licensing was earth shattering by comparison to previous highs for another notable NFL players.

“But now the heavily-hyped son of Deion Sanders is laughing all the way to the bank, as he earned a record-shattering $17.7 million in group licensing income over the course of the season, according to the NFL Players Association annual report filed this week with the Department of Labor,” Kaplan wrote. “The prior record was Tom Brady’s $9.5 million in the 2021-2022 season.”

That’s right, Sanders out-did Brady in financial earnings. During the 2024-25 season, Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy led all players with $4 million through his LLC Newberry Raised. Sanders is listed under SS2Legendary, which is also his Instagram handle, so perhaps more people should do that!

“Group licensing encompasses deals that include six or more players, the most typical of which are jerseys, trading cards, video games, and other collectibles,” Kaplan wrote. “In addition to royalties, the NFLPA figures also include player marketing income from appearances and hospitality promotions.

“Group licensing does not include individual deals like Sanders has with Gatorade, Delta Airlines, Beats by Dre and Ralph Lauren. Taking into account his personal endorsement deals, Sanders likely pulled in well north of $20 million in off-the-field earnings, an incredible sum for a rookie fifth-round pick but perhaps not that surprising given his celebrity and the media attention showered on him.”

Sanders threw for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 56.6% completion percentage as a rookie. Despite first round draft pick projections, Sanders fell to the fifth round in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Why he fell is anyone’s guess, but it’s a combination of speculation regarding the media circus he and his family, led by Colorado head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, and Shedeur Sanders’ stat line being misleading. On the surface though, Shedeur Sanders threw for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 74% completion percentage (an NCAA single season record) during his final season.

Clearly, his popularity didn’t diminish despite a draft slide, critiques and being in the Browns’ organization, where many thought he’d be set up to fail anyway. Still, Shedeur Sanders had his moments as a rookie, but there are no guarantees he’ll be the full-time starter in 2026. But at least his earning potential wasn’t drastically affected.