The powers that be in the NFL were hoping to humble former Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders by allowing him to slide from a projected top-five pick to No. 144 in the fifth round. And that, too, getting picked by the Cleveland Browns, no less. But it seems Sanders is already getting the last laugh.
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Despite that epic draft weekend slide — which no doubt contributed to the NFL’s record TV ratings across the second and third days — Shedeur’s new Browns jersey is now the highest-selling rookie jersey in his class (via Fanatics). That’s the kind of impact he’s had on the NFL, less than a week after the draft wrapped.
Sanders was only the sixth QB taken, but he’s still moving more merchandise than No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and the other four QBs selected ahead of him. Ward’s unretired No.1 Tennessee Titans jersey sits third in sales. Sanders’ former Colorado teammate, Travis Hunter, and his new No. 12 Jacksonville Jaguars threads in second.
“Fanatics confirmed to cllct Wednesday that Sanders now has the No.1 selling jersey among all 2025 draft picks across the company’s network of sites, including the NFL Shop and the Cleveland Browns’ official shop,” as reported by Darren Rovell of cllct.
BREAKING: Shedeur Sanders, Pick No. 144 in the NFL Draft, is now the best selling jersey in his draft class.
Numbers just confirmed across the @Fanatics network of sites. https://t.co/Jj73JcrIFe
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 30, 2025
The tricky thing about all of those Sanders sales is that he doesn’t have an official number yet. He’s listed as number “00” on the team’s official site. Customers won’t get their Sanders jerseys until they officially give him a number.
However, he’s worn No.2 nearly all his life, including his entire college career. And with the number not currently attributed to anyone on the team, the former Buffalo should be able to land it again.
The number is important to Sanders for a few reasons. For one, it is part of his 2Legendary brand, which he is constantly promoting. Through his 2Legendary site, he was the only draftee to sell his own merch on draft weekend.
All three items — a t-shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, and a hoodie — were listed as sold out on his site.
But there are some other reasons why Sanders loves the No.2. He started off wearing it as a youngster and then realized it matched up pretty well with many things about him. He was born in the second month (February), he’s the second son of his mother and father, and he was born in 2002.
His father, Deion Sanders, also famously wore No.2 in college for Florida State. Like Shedeur’s at Colorado, Deion’s No.2 was also retired.
The one thing is that the No.2 doesn’t have great connotations for the Cleveland Browns. The last guy to wear it, Amari Cooper, didn’t leave on great terms.
The quarterbacks who have worn it might give Shedeur the chills. Two Browns first-round quarterbacks who failed spectacularly in the league wore the number previously: 1999 1st overall pick Tim Couch and 2014 No. 22 overall pick Johnny Manziel.
Shedeur will do everything in his power to avoid any comparisons with those two beyond their likely shared jersey number. With such a thrilling response, though, it is likely that Shedeur will get to keep his personal brand as well as get the No.2 jersey from the Browns.
