Shedeur Sanders suffered one of the most shocking draft-day slides in recent memory. He entered the pre-draft process as a projected top-five pick, with some outlets predicting him to be the first player off the board. Instead, the son of Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders waited until Day 3 to hear his name called as the Cleveland Browns selected him in the fifth round.
The former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback played well in the final year of his collegiate career, throwing for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, while completing an NCAA-leading 74.0% of his passes and adding four rushing touchdowns.
There were questions, however, about his ability to translate his game to the NFL level. While he was the 144th player off the board, Sanders’ jersey is reportedly the top seller of the 2025 NFL Draft class.
Shedeur Sanders’ Merch Thrives Despite Draft Day Slide
Shedeur Sanders entered the 2025 NFL Draft as the most popular player in the class, along with his former Colorado Buffaloes teammate, Travis Hunter. While he had to wait until the third and final day of the event to hear his name called, the 2024 All-American has seen his merchandise thrive in the days after the draft.
Darren Rovell of cllct shared that all of the merchandise on his site has sold out, and his jersey has been the most popular in the draft class, writing:
“Although Shedeur Sanders missed out on more than $40 million in salary from his fall in the 2025 NFL Draft last week, he apparently made up some of that by becoming the only draft pick to sell his own gear. It is not known how much was made, but all three items — a short and a long sleeve T-shirt and a hoodie — that were on his “2Legendary” site were marked “sold out” as of Wednesday morning.
“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.”
Sanders will enter the league with a major chip on his shoulder after suffering one of the most unprecedented draft day slides in recent history. He will likely have the opportunity to compete for the Browns’ starting gig as Deshaun Watson is set to miss the 2025 season after he re-ruptured his torn Achilles. The fifth-round pick figures to compete with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel for the starting role.
