A legend like Tom Brady has many records to his name. However, Shedeur Sanders broke one of those by setting a new milestone in his rookie season. According to the reports, the Cleveland Browns QB surpassed Brady’s NFLPA single-year group licensing earnings with a $17.7 million payout. However, Sanders didn’t buy into the reports and had a simple message about his earnings record.

“[You just got 17 million] I don’t believe that, bro,” said Sanders in a video posted by Well Off Media. “[I was going to ask you to borrow some money] Don’t believe that. That cap. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The NFL Players Association’s annual financial report filed with the federal Department of Labor revealed Shedeur’s $17.7 million earnings through group licensing and marketing royalties. Group licensing is a concept where the deals involve six or more players, typically covering jerseys, trading cards, video games, and other collectibles.

While group licensing typically brings to mind retail jersey sales, NFLPA Executive Director JC Tretter confirmed that the majority of Sanders’ payout was tied to trading cards and contract structuring. To be precise, roughly $15 million of the $17.7 million total came directly from trading cards.

Sanders negotiated a high-value contract with Panini while still starting at Colorado. Since he was projected to be a top first-round draft pick at the time, Panini locked him into guaranteed royalty metrics. Even though the 24-year-old QB was picked in the fifth round on draft day, Panini was legally obligated to honor those payouts.

According to a report from Front Office Sports, total player revenue from trading cards has skyrocketed from $39.6 million to $93 million. And Sanders took home the largest individual slice of that pie. However, this wasn’t the sole driving factor of the rookie signal caller’s group licensing earnings.

Shedeur Sanders entered the league with an already established fanbase. He was the son of Deion Sanders. And this popularity seemingly translated into retail power, be it in high-volume jersey sales or EA Sports Madden video game royalties.

Earlier, Tom Brady held this record. During the 2021-2022 NFL season, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback earned a $9.5 million payout. And it was built entirely on organic consumer demand for products and services related to Tom Brady.

That year, Brady was fresh off a Super Bowl win with the Buccaneers. As a result, his retail popularity exploded and led the NFL in officially licensed jersey sales. According to NFLPA officials at the time, autographs and premium collectibles were a massive sub-category of his earnings as well.

As the consensus “Greatest of All Time” (GOAT), Brady signed high-end group licensing deals for premium memorabilia. On top of that, Brady was the co-cover athlete for EA Sports’ Madden NFL 22 alongside Patrick Mahomes.

Being the face of the league’s flagship video game meant he received a top-tier allocation of the NFLPA’s shared gaming group licensing pool. Normally, big licensing earners are established stars like Brady. However, in Sanders’ case, his contractual structuring seemingly made it possible.

Although Sanders denied earning that amount, reports suggest that the union processed the money through Sanders’ corporate entity, SS2 Legendary LLC, and disbursed the total amount across 13 separate installments between May 2025 and February 2026. On May 16, 2025, Shedeur Sanders reportedly received the largest single check for $9.2 million.