Exactly a month ago, if someone had predicted Shedeur Sanders’ first NFL contract value to be less than his NIL value of $6.5 million, they would have been called a madman. But thanks to the former Buffs star getting shockingly picked in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, his rookie contract reflects the same as earlier this week, Shedeur Sanders signed a four-year, $4.6 million deal with the Cleveland Browns.
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While the number doesn’t exactly scream “top pick,” Cam Newton believes it’s a setup for something much bigger and possibly, much faster. In the latest edition of his 4th & 1 podcast, Newton unpacked Shedeur’s situation in depth. Rather than focus on the money left on the table by not staying another year in college, the former Panthers quarterback looked ahead and saw opportunity.
“Most people look at it like, yeah, you may have lost $20 million on the front end,” Newton said. “But you’re still gonna make that up — if you do what you’re supposed to do.”
The key difference, as Cam Newton points out, lies in contract structure. Unlike Sanders’ peer Cam Ward and the No. 1 overall pick, who just signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $48 million contract with the Tennessee Titans, the Browns star doesn’t have a fifth-year option built into his rookie deal. And to the former NFL MVP, that’s a blessing in disguise.
“The buzz is there. Shedeur is the starter — he can get to that bag sooner than Cam [Ward] could.”
Here’s how: First-round picks like Ward are locked into team-friendly five-year rookie deals, which give organizations an extra year of control. But for Shedeur Sanders, drafted outside the top 100, that fifth year doesn’t exist. Which means, if he balls out early, even just for one of his first four seasons, the Browns will have to negotiate a new deal sooner, or risk losing him.
“There’s no fifth-year option,” Newton said. “Now, if you do what you’re supposed to do, Shedeur — everything you’re capable of — you can get to that bag… We just seen somebody make $265 million!”
Shedeur Sanders is Finally Having Fun!@CameronNewton explains why his current situation is the BEST thing for him pic.twitter.com/ydDpjhjQK1
— 4th&1 with Cam Newton (@4thand1show) May 22, 2025
That “somebody,” of course, is Brock Purdy, who was recently handed a contract extension by the 49ers. But on a macro level, his new deal signifies the league’s new era of quarterback contracts, where one breakout season can change your financial life forever.
While this must be encouraging for Shedeur Sanders, the real challenge will only begin now. The former Colorado star is entering a crowded quarterback room in Cleveland that includes Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and an injured Deshaun Watson.
But if he can rise above the competition and flash his upside early, Newton believes the timeline to big money won’t just be back on track, it could even outpace that of Cam Ward. “It’s a long-term play,” Newton added. “But it’s a smart one.”
So while the Tennessee star starts his NFL journey with the bigger bag, Shedeur Sanders might just be the one holding the bigger one when it counts — the second contract.
