Analyzing Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders’ Contracts: Who Earns More in the Rookie Year?

There is a significant difference in the rookie contracts of the 2025 Draft's most-hyped rookies, Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.

Analyzing Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders’ Contracts: Who Earns More in the Rookie Year?

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter (Image via Open Source)

In just one month, Colorado Buffaloes stars Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders went from being teammates to rivals in the NFL. The former was picked second overall in the 2025 Draft, and the latter, who was expected to be a first-round pick, had to wait for two days before his name was announced.

Fortunately, both of them have made it to the NFL. As of today, Hunter is the latest addition to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The dual-position athlete officially signed his contract. Sanders inked his deal weeks earlier. Both quarterbacks played at an elite level in college, but only one of them will make tens of millions per year as a rookie.

Hunter has an advantage over Sanders. As he was picked second overall, he will make $40+ million. The league’s rookie pay scale compensates the top five picks with $30+ million rookie contracts, whereas the remaining players picked in Round 1 receive anywhere between $13.35 million to $30 million rookie contracts.

The numbers continue to go down as the number increases. Second-round picks make anywhere from $6.83 million to $12 million, third-round picks make between $5.9 million to $6.76 million, and fourth-round picks make anywhere between $4.78 million to $5.16 million. The remaining players picked later make less than five million from their rookie contracts.

Hunter is miles ahead of Sanders in terms of his contract value. Take a look at the following table for a detailed breakdown of their respective contracts.

Travis Hunter or Shedeur Sanders: Who earns more?

Contract Value Shedeur SandersTravis Hunter
Total Duration & ValueFour years, $4,647,380 million (Including signing bonus of $447,380)Four years, $46,649,126 (Including signing bonus of $30,566,636)
Average Annual Value$1,161,845 $11,662,282

There is a staggering difference in their pay scale as seen in the aforementioned table. The figures have been taken from Spotrac. Hunter has the better deal, in terms of value and stability. Since Sanders is on a team with four other quarterbacks on the roster, at least one is likely to be cut. Interestingly, Hunter’s $30 million signing bonus was the first time that a non-quarterback and non-first overall pick of the NFL draft received the huge amount upfront.

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter (2)
Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter (Image via Open Source)

The Browns will not cut Dillon Gabriel, after all, he was picked ahead of Sanders, and hearing the feedback emerging out of the team’s minicamp, the 3rd round pick of the Browns has shown promise. The Browns have Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett apart from the rookies, giving the team ample options for the season.

Pickett or Sanders may get cut by the Browns, but the latter is at a higher risk because he is fighting for two things: the starting job and a spot on the roster, as per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. His deal lacks security, but that is a price attached to being drafted in the later rounds.

As for Travis Hunter, the receiver/corner carries a large burden on his shoulders. He has to prove that he can dominate on offense and defense in the NFL, just as he did in college. The Jaguars are allowing the rookie to go in that direction. However, despite the optimism, the real question is whether Hunter’s body can handle this workload.

Playing a single position is a challenge in itself in the NFL, due to the level of physicality involved. Hunter plays two of the most taxing positions in football, which makes the feat he is hopeful of achieving harder.

Also Read: