The Cleveland Browns are paying quarterback Shedeur Sanders minimally on a four-year rookie contract through 2028, but the NFL paid the rookie signal-caller a whole lot more than that across his first year in the league.
As an early fifth-round pick in 2025, Shedeur Sanders will earn just $4.65 million on his first professional football contract. However, the league cut the QB a check for $17.7 million in group licensing income across his first year in the NFL, which set an all-time record.
Various ESPN-affiliated accounts posted to social media about the news on Tuesday, June 2. Meanwhile Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders’ father and college coach at Colorado, issued a strong message on his son’s financial success.
“I just had a kid that made the most money in the history of the NFL itself,” Deion Sanders said. “That wasn’t even including jerseys. Ya’ll don’t know that. That was just — that was another deal.”
Shedeur Sanders’ Limited NFL Opportunities During His Rookie Year Didn’t Stifle Public Interest in QB
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Deion Sanders’ notoriety and popularity — born of his NFL stardom, work as a prominent broadcaster and transition into coaching — helped bolster that of Shedeur Sanders during the quarterback’s four years playing for his father, first at Jackson State and then at Colorado.
Shedeur Sanders’ success in college, helping his father and Travis Hunter turn around the Buffaloes program and capping a two-year run there in 2024 with the team’s first winning record (9-4) since the 2016 campaign, captured national attention.
The young quarterback’s confidence and charisma, along with his 4,134 passing yards and 37 TDs during his senior year, also buoyed interest in him across the ranks of both football and general celebrity.
The impact of all of that clearly has yet to wear off, as Shedeur Sanders sat more than half of his rookie campaign before getting a shot in the second half of the Browns’ Week 11 game against the Baltimore Ravens, when fellow rookie QB Dillon Gabriel went down with a concussion.
Shedeur Sanders went on to start the next seven contests to complete the season. All told, he finished the year 3-4 as the Browns’ starter while throwing for 1,400 yards, seven TDs and 10 INTs on 56.6 percent passing.
None of that was groundbreaking, but Shedeur Sanders still remains immensely popular, even if he is also sometimes polarizing.
Shedeur Sanders Will Battle Deshaun Watson for Browns’ Starting QB Role This Season
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
There were some moments in which Shedeur Sanders shone brightly, though far more where he struggled in much the same way that most rookie QBs do during their first NFL stint — particularly when playing behind arguably the worst offensive line in the league and one of the barest cupboards with regards to pass-catching talent.
Given his popularity nationwide, and particularly in Cleveland, it makes sense for the Browns to trot Sanders out as the starter in Week 1 as the 24 year old enters his second year. The team rebuilt its offensive line and stacked up on young talent in the wide receiver room via the draft, while also adding depth behind breakout third-round tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
It is hard to argue that team brass could truly evaluate Shedeur Sanders last season when the roster around him essentially had him playing with one hand tied behind his back. That the fanbase at large loves him and wants him to get an overtly fair shake at QB1 should perhaps be the end of the discussion.
Though, it won’t be.
General manager Andrew Berry and new head coach Todd Monken have made it clear that there is an open competition at QB1 this offseason. Common logic indicates that Deshaun Watson, coming off a year and a half on the sidelines with a twice-torn Achilles tendon, will serve as Shedeur Sanders’ greatest competition for the role.
But even if Watson wins it, there is a reasonable chance Browns fans will see Shedeur Sanders start multiple games again in 2026. And based on his popularity, that will represent the franchise in Cleveland giving the people what they want.
Deion Sanders Sounds Off on Shedeur Sanders’ Record-Breaking $18 Million NFL Deal