Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders’s slide from expected high first-round pick in the 2025 Draft to the 144th slot in the fifth round deprived him of a guaranteed contract and a mega-payday, leaving him with a slotted average annual salary of $1.005 million.
But now the heavily-hyped son of Deion Sanders is laughing all the way to the bank, as he earned a record-shattering $17.7 million in group licensing income over the course of the season, according to the NFL Players Association annual report filed this week with the Department of Labor.
The prior record was Tom Brady’s $9.5 million in the 2021-2022 season.
Sanders is listed under the name of his limited liability corporation, SS2Legendary, which is also his Instagram handle. By comparison, in the 2024-2025 NFL season, J.J. McCarthy led all players with $4 million through his LLC Newberry Raised.
Group licensing encompasses deals that include six or more players, the most typical of which are jerseys, trading cards, video games, and other collectibles. In addition to royalties, the NFLPA figures also include player marketing income from appearances and hospitality promotions.
