Despite a rollercoaster of a rookie season, Shedeur Sanders secured a major record, as he earned $17.7 million from the NFLPA Group Licensing Income. Initially, NFL legend Tom Brady held the record with $9.5 million during the 2021-2022 season.

His entire family expressed their happiness after the QB’s massive paycheck. Coach Prime, in a recent interview with FOS, stated how proud he was of his son and revealed what led to the massive payment in royalties.

“I am so proud of him, I don’t know if people really dug into that, but it had nothing to do with his jersey sales, that’s a whole another category, that was just licensing cards, and whatsoever, I’m happy,” said Deion when asked about Shedeur’s achievement. “A tremendous deal with the NFLPA.”

As per Coach Prime, if Shedeur’s jersey sales were not counted, that significantly reduced his earnings, as he had the highest-selling jersey among any rookies in the 2025 Draft Class. However, as he progresses, the player will benefit from his high jersey sales as well.

The amount mainly came from high-value individual trading card guarantees. His company, SS2 Legendary LLC, received the income between May 2025 and February 2026. The biggest payment of 9.24 million came right after the NFL Draft. However, this may have been due to the negotiation, which took place when he was in college.

“Most player royalty through the NFLPA come from group licensing deals, which compensate players for jersey sales, trading cards, video games, and other collectibles. As one source suggested, the $9.24 million payment to Sanders in May 2025 may have reflected his individual trading-card guarantee — something that likely would have been negotiated before he slipped from round one to round five in the 2025 draft,” Mike Florio wrote on Pro Football Talk.

Days later, The Pat McAfee Show made another revelation. As per their source, about $15 million from the royalties came from rookie sports card deals.

Despite being a fifth-round pick, Sanders came into the NFL with growing popularity due to what he had done in college. His current NFL deal is a four-year $4.6 million contract, which is significantly lower than what he made from his royalty payment. 

Shedeur’s payment stacks a lot higher than a lot of others. For example, last year, it was Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy who led the charts as a rookie, but he earned only a $4 million payment. 

While things look great for Deion Sanders’ son off the field, he will be looking to try and find ways to turn things around on it as well, as he goes into his sophomore season.

Shedeur Sanders is trailing in the quarterback race

Experts considered Shedeur as a top quarterback when he came out of the Colorado Buffaloes. However, when he came to Cleveland, he was the third quarterback in the depth chart behind veteran Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel. But he did have seven starts after Flacco left the franchise to join the Cincinnati Bengals, and Gabriel had a concussion. Shedeur finished the season with a 3-4 record and added 1,400 passing yards and 7 touchdown passes. He also threw 10 interceptions.

The QB was sacked 23 times in 8 games and earned a lot of criticism. Despite that, he earned himself a Pro Bowl selection in his rookie year. And now, he has found another positive thing in his first year in the NFL. While earning $17.7 million is a rare win for the QB, the hard work does not seem to end.

Shedeur Sanders wrapped up last season as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. He would likely have maintained that role if Kevin Stefanski were still the head coach. However, he was replaced by Todd Monken early in the offseason.

One of the very first things Monken did was to announce a competition between the quarterbacks. Initially, everyone thought that Shedeur would be the first choice, considering Deshaun Watson played only 19 games in four years, and Dillon Gabriel barely had any game time last season.

However, as voluntary camps approached, things started to shift a bit. Even veteran Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot stated that Watson was the player she wanted to start for the franchise.

“I think they should declare [Watson] QB1 asap and let the 1st team offense start to cook,” said Mary Kay Cabot. “There’s no time to waste.” 

Cabot’s comments came after Watson performed really well at the voluntary camp and impressed everyone. Since then, the tides have started to shift in Watson’s favor. Things got even more heated when Shedeur’s brother, Shilo Sanders, targeted Cabot with a misogynistic comment.

Besides, Monken also praised the quarterback for wanting to change the narrative of his career.

“He’s made plenty of money,” said Todd Monken, via Cabot. “I think we all know that. He’s had plenty of success and has had disappointments in his career. A number of things he couldn’t control from an injury standpoint. But to come back and want to battle, want to further his career, and change the narrative, I think that’s really cool.”

Another reason Shedeur is slowly losing his QB1 role is because of experience. The Browns have a young offense this year. So, it is a possibility that the HC may prefer a veteran like Watson to lead the offense. Moreover, this might be Watson’s last chance at redemption. Injuring his Achilles and spending 18 months outside the gridiron has already put him on the back foot.

While there is still a lot of time for Shedeur to change coach Monken’s mind about the starting QB spot. Watson is the favorite, but his injury record is not all that great, and if he puts up good performances in the offseason practices, the coach might give the former Colorado QB a chance. If he manages to stay as a starter, his royalty earnings could certainly see further growth next season.