Shedeur Sanders Nearly Doubles Tom Brady’s Peak NFL Licensing Earnings With $17.7 Million Payday

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders earned a record-shattering amount in group licensing income.

Shedeur Sanders Nearly Doubles Tom Brady’s Peak NFL Licensing Earnings With $17.7 Million Payday

Shedeur Sanders and Tom Brady (Image via IMAGO)

It’s too early to use Shedeur Sanders‘ and Tom Brady‘s names in the same sentence. One is arguably the GOAT (greatest of all time), and the other is just starting out his NFL adventure. Regardless, Sanders has already broken one record that Brady held for a long time.

Sanders, a projected first-round draft pick, slid to the fifth round before the Cleveland Browns selected him. That did not decrease his popularity. Rather, the constant media chatter regarding his fall only made him a popular figure across the nation.

Shedeur already had a ton of admirers due to his heroics at the collegiate level in Colorado; now, fans in Cleveland had the chance to experience what the hype’s all about. It all began with jersey sales. Sanders’ number flew off the local Fanatics store as soon as they hit the aisle.

Dropping to the fifth round meant Sanders lost the chance to earn top dollar like his peers, Cam Ward or Travis Hunter. He signed a rookie contract paying him an average annual salary of $1.005 million.

However, he still made north of $15 million in 2025. According to a report from the NFLPA, later echoed by Front Office Sports, Shedeur Sanders earned a record-shattering $17.7 million in group licensing income. That’s more than anyone last year, including veterans like Patrick Mahomes, Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, Geno Smith, and so on. Sanders broke Brady’s tally of $9.7 million in 2021-2022, a year into his Tampa Bay Buccaneers career.

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Shedeur Sanders’ brother on what he’s going to do with the money

Shedeur is the youngest of four Sanders siblings: two full brothers/sisters (Shilo Sanders and Shelomi Sanders) and two older half-siblings (Deiondra Sanders and Deion Sanders Jr.) from his father and NFL Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders’ previous marriage.

Shedeur Sanders Nearly Doubles Tom Brady's Peak NFL Licensing Earnings With $17.7 Million Payday
Shedeur Sanders (Image via IMAGO)

All four are part of the sports industry in one way or another, except Deion Sanders Jr. (the oldest of the siblings). After graduating from SMU, DSJ switched to honing his skills as a media producer. He takes care of all the Sanders family videos on various social media platforms, including YouTube.

After the NFLPA and FOS revealed the details of Shedeur’s jersey sales, DSJ posted a tweet indicating what his brother may use the money for.

I know Shedeur Sanders [is] not gone be selfish and keep it all for himself.

Deion Sanders Jr. tweeted

Despite his young age, Shedeur frequently gives back to the community. According to Andscape, Sanders partnered with local leaders to host a massive family-friendly block party and fundraiser for the nearly 1,000 residents of the Garden Valley Apartments in Cleveland after a devastating apartment complex gas explosion last year.

He teamed up with a local Ohio car dealership and news outlets to donate a brand-new Hyundai Elantra to a hard-working mother in Avon, Ohio, whose own car had broken down.

Shedeur Sanders gets some bad news in his quest to become the starting quarterback for the Browns

Ever since his rookie year ended, Sanders has worked hard so that he could become the franchise quarterback of the Browns. However, standing in his way is veteran signal caller Deshaun Watson, who missed the last year due to an injury.

Watson is back in the building, and given that he’s in the final year of his historic contract, he wants to be the starter in week one.

Deshaun Watson has a leg up in the quarterback competition [involving Shedeur Sanders], but the Browns have not made any kind of firm determination yet. But the Browns like Deshaun Watson’s experience. Watson believes that Todd Monken’s offense — which has some concepts to the Air Raid out of college, which he’s run in the past and has some room to freelance a little bit out of the pocket — he likes that and feels like it’s a fit.

Jeremy Fowler said via ESPN Cleveland

Sanders made seven starts for the Browns in 2025. He completed 56.6% of his passes for 1400 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

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