Why Shedeur Sanders had record-breaking NFLPA payday

Shedeur Sanders cashed in a historic amount from the NFLPA, but it wasn’t from jersey sales.It emerged late last month that the Browns quarterback had earned a whopping $17.7 million in royalty payments, smashing the previous single-season record of $9.5 million held by Tom Brady.And while it’d be natural to assume that Sanders’ payday was driven by his impressive jersey sales, his father has said that’s not the case.“I don’t know if people really dug into that,” Deion Sanders told Front Office Sports.The Colorado Buffaloes coach and former NFL star then revealed that a “tremendous deal” was the reason for his son’s huge payout.According to Pro Football Talk, Shedeur’s SS2 Legendary LLC received 13 different payments from May 2025 to February of this year.The largest payment was a $9.24 million sum paid to the quarterback in May of last year, which may have been for his trading card guarantee, a source told PFT.Nonetheless, his off-field earnings have far surpassed his relatively modest Browns contract that followed his stunning slide to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.Sanders wound up signing a four-year, $4.64 million deal with the team, but got the chance to start seven games last year.He threw 1,400 yards for seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions across eight games.Now, he has a chance to win the Browns’ starting job, as he’s split reps with Deshaun Watson this offseason.New Cleveland coach Todd Monken also stated his belief this week that the team has two “starting-level quarterbacks,” confirming that he sees a legitimate competition under center....