Shedeur Sanders made millions during his college career through NIL deals, but he’s now set to miss out on even more after his unexpected draft slide. Once projected as a first-round pick, Sanders fell to the fifth round, where the Browns selected him 144th overall. Even those who predicted he might slip didn’t imagine he would drop past the second round.
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The slide not only brought public humiliation but also cost him the kind of payday typically reserved for first-rounders. However, many believe there’s still a path for Sanders to close that financial gap.
If a fan visits the NFL’s or the Browns’ official website, the first jersey available for pre-order is Shedeur Sanders’. However, a trend is gaining traction on social media among NFL fans: instead of buying Sanders’ jersey through the league’s online shop, they are pledging to purchase it directly from his official website. Why?
Many believe the NFL did Shedeur dirty — allegedly blackballing him and engineering his fall to the fifth round. By buying from Sanders’ site, fans hope to help him personally capitalize on jersey and merchandise sales, potentially earning him millions. Shannon Sharpe even predicted that more players will start encouraging fans to do the same with their gear.
“Many NFL fans on Tik Tok have pledged to purchase Shedeur’s jersey and merchandise exclusively from his official website rather than the NFL shop to support him after being drafted in the 5th round…Now you’ll probably see other players doing the same.”
“And that’s good. His daddy’s gonna make that up. Deion did that. And that’s what they gonna do. They are going to show everybody what they did to Shedeur. You know that boy shouldn’t have been drafted in no fifth round…That’s crazy…He’s popular on social media, and he’s going to stay popular no matter what,” iterated Gary Payton on Nightcap.
Despite everything, Ocho remains positive about Shedeur’s prospects in Cleveland, calling it a “blessing in disguise.”
“Obviously, going in the 5th round and the pick he went is not the blessing I’m talking about. I’m just saying the situation he is hoing to. Flacco is on a one-year deal, DeShaun Watson is not going to play this year, I think he’ll able to beat out Pickett and Dillon Gabriel. He’s going to get his shot to play. It’s going to be magical for him.”
Shedeur Sanders’ first NFL contract will earn him around $4.6 million or less over four years. But the Buffs alum doesn’t need to worry — he had one of the highest NIL valuations in college, peaking at $6.5 million, thanks to major brand deals with Nike, Gatorade, Beats by Dre, Google, and the 5430 Alliance. Many of these partnerships will carry over to carry over into his NFL career.
At just 23 years old, Shedeur is already a millionaire — and the son of a very wealthy father. He’ll have no trouble sleeping at night knowing where he stands. As long as he gets the opportunity to show his talent and prove himself, he won’t lose sleep over slipping to the fifth round.
