Shedeur Sanders experienced an unprecedented tumble down the board during the 2025 NFL Draft, and the former Colorado star’s reputation is not the only thing that has taken a hit. His wallet is suffering, too.
Sanders didn’t hear his named called until the Cleveland Browns took him with pick No. 144 in the fifth round.
Sanders fell so far in the draft that it is fair to wonder if he would have earned more money by playing another season in college. In the new era where student-athletes can profit off their name, image and likeness, star players — especially quarterbacks — have the means to earn millions of dollars in college. With Sanders having not heard his name called in the first two days of the NFL Draft, it seems safe to conclude that he could have made more money playing another season in college that he will early on in his professional career.
According to On3, Sanders has an NIL valuation of $6.5M. The quarterback would have had one year of college eligibility remaining, but he forfeited that by entering the NFL Draft.
The NFL uses a rookie wage scale that was negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners. The higher a player is drafted, the more money he has a chance to earn with his first NFL contract.
The 2025 NFL rookie scale, which can be viewed at Spotrac, shows that the total value of a No. 1 overall pick’s first contract is $48.75M. The No. 32 overall pick (the final selection of the first round) has a rookie contract that is valued at $14.65M.
Given the $6.5M NIL valuation, Sanders’ break-even point would have been around the 76th overall pick in the NFL Draft. After that, the total value of a rookie contract dips below $6.5M. The value of the 144th pick’s contract is $4.65M.
No one expected Sanders to fall so far in the draft, so it would be silly to say he should have played a fifth season in college. His father is also Deion Sanders, so it’s unlikely that he has any financial concerns.
Still, the fact that Shedeur Sanders could have made more playing college football than he will through several seasons in the NFL is another reminder of just how much the sports landscape has changed.
