2 weeks Ago By Morgan Moriarty
Shedeur Sanders is set to take the next step in his career as he's expected to be a first-round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. And with it, he is expected to receive a big pay day as he signs his new rookie contract with his new team. But thanks to NIL in the college athletics landscape, big-name athletes like Sanders are already making money in college.
The Colorado quarterback inked several NIL deals during his two-year Buffaloes career as well as at Jackson State, so he won't exactly be entering the NFL with an empty piggy bank. Let's take a look at Sanders' NIL money to see how it might compare to his NFL rookie contract. đ˛ Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp Shedeur Sanders NIL Money Sanders, the son of legendary NFL star Deion "Prime Time" Sanders, has inked several NIL deals totaling some serious cash.
Since most NIL deal amounts are not made public, the exact valuation of just how much Sanders has made is unclear. According to On3's NIL valuation system, Sanders has already made $6.5 million during his college football career.
According to Spotrac , the top five picks in this year's NFL draft are expected to sign contracts worth between $43 million and $36 million, with the first four picks set to earn over $7 million. Here's a full look at the breakdown: Pick Total Value Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 1 $43,010,000 $7,820,000 $9,775,000 $11,730,000 $13,685,000 2 $41,108,290 $7,474,234 $9,342,793 $11,211,352 $13,079,911 3 $39,898,136 $7,254,206 $9,067,758 $10,881,310 $12,694,862 4 $38,515,052 $7,002,737 $8,753,421 $10,504,105 $12,254,789 5 $36,094,688 $6,562,670 $8,203,338 $9,844,006 $11,484,674 MORE 2025 NFL DRAFT: SN's 7-round mock | Top 250 big board | Expert mock draft roundup Shedeur Sanders NIL deals Sanders signed several NIL deals while he was with both Jackson State and Colorado. Some of the biggest names he inked deals with included Nike, Gatorade, Mercedes-Benz, Google, Beats by Dre and Under Armor.
Company Date Signed Beats by Dre Aug. 2021 TB12/Brady Dec. 2021 Gatorade Jan.
2022 PLB Sports Sept. 2022 Actively Black Oct. 2022 Mercedes-Benz Nov.
2022 Google Nov. 2022 Under Armour Nov. 2022 Oikos Feb.
2023 Urban Outfitters Sept. 2023 Topps Sept. 2023 5430 Allicance March 2024 Nike Aug.
2024 Beats by Dre Sanders' very first NIL deal was with the headphones company. He became a brand ambassador for the company with the deal, as well. "I remember getting my first pair of Beats, so this feels full circle," Sanders said in 2021 via ESPN .
"I'm excited to be part of a brand that inspires and represents the culture in a positive way; and that's exactly what I want to do with my career. It's an honor to be the first college athlete on their roster, and I couldn't have imagined a better partnership." MORE NFL DRAFT: Ranking the top 10 quarterbacks, from Cam Ward to Tyler Shough Ranking the top 10 running backs, from Ashton Jeanty to Trevor Etienne Ranking the top 10 wide receivers, from Tetairoa McMillan to Isaiah Bond Ranking the top 10 tight ends, from Tyler Warren to Mitchell Evans Ranking the top 10 edge rushers, from Abdul Carter to JT Tuimoloau TB12 When Sanders was still at Jackson State in 2022, he signed an NIL deal with Brady's TB12 brand.
In fact, Brady signed several college athletes to his brand, such as George Pickens of Georgia, Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall, Michigan's Cade McNamara and Villanova basketball's Jermaine Samuels. "Iâm so excited to work with the Brady team," Sanders said in a release announcing the partnership. "Tom has been a longtime mentor to me, both on and off the field and Iâve been a fan of his apparel brand since its inception, so this partnership feels like a natural next step.
I couldnât be more grateful and excited to join the list of world-class athletes that represent the brand." Sanders and Bradyânow a minority owner for the Las Vegas Raidersâ actually share a close relationship . The two even worked out together in June 2020.
Gatorade In January 2022, Sanders signed an NIL deal with Gatorade. The deal was historic, as it marked the first time the sports drink company had inked a deal with an HBCU player. "I'm honored to be a part of the Gatorade family," Sanders said of his deal .
First and foremost, I'm blessed. It's a great opportunity. As a kid, I was drinking Gatorade regularly.
So now that we have the opportunity to partner with them and be a part of Gatorade, I'm very blessed," said Sanders. A post shared by Shedeur Sanders (@shedeursanders) Mercedes-Benz In November 2022, Sanders inked a deal with Mercedes-Benz, his first NIL deal with a car company. The quarterback promoted the company's all electric EQB SUV: Pocket protection worthy of a quarterback.
The EQB has all the latest safety features Mercedes-Benz has to offer. @shedeursanders â #MercedesAllStar , #MercedesBenz , #EQB pic.twitter.
com/R9YcAfQcQZ Under Armour, Nike, Urban Outfitters Also in November 2022, Sanders announced an NIL deal with Under Armour, which gave him his own jersey: A post shared by Shedeur Sanders (@shedeursanders) But his deal with Under Armour lasted less than two years. Before he started his 2024-25 season with the Buffs, he signed an apparel and shoe deal with Nike. The signing was especially unique, as it came nearly 30 years after his father, Deion, signed a deal of his own with the shoe giant.
MORE NFL Best two-way players in history: How Deion Sanders, others dominated both sides of the ball 10 most shocking NFL Draft slides of all time, from Aaron Rodgers to Laremy Tunsil The heaviest players of all time: Where Mekhi Becton, Refrigerator Perry and more rank Most NFL Draft picks by a school in one year: Revisiting 2022 Georgia and the biggest classes I would want to build on it," Sanders said of building on his father's Nike brand and legacy. "I want to build on it, have like a different version. But I think concept, because I feel like it's more .
.. like now, like just looking at life and looking at everything, it's more about generational.
It's more about what could be passed down year after year after year after year rather than everybody starting to think they're whole new wave ...
because there's no real substance behind it. Everything that's great has to have a story behind it." A post shared by Nike Football (@usnikefootball) Sanders, along with LSU's Jayden Daniels, Penn State's Drew Allar and UCLA's Chase Griffin, also inked an NIL deal with Urban Outfitters.
Thanks to Urban Outfittersâ nationwide NIL campaign, Coloradoâs Shedeur Sanders took 10 teammates back to school shopping. Drew Allar, Jayden Daniels and Chase Griffin also participated. Postgame facilitated the campaign.
More via @Pete_Nakos96: https://t.co/iJAloPNRl9 pic.twitter.
com/G5PLebQOOI Topps Sanders also has a deal with Topps trading cards: Shedeur Sanders, Marvin Harrison Jr., Sam Hartman and Malik Nabers all have Bowman U Now cards from @Topps . All pictures from games this past weekend on the cards.
pic.twitter.com/4TgTSrbEle Google In November 2023, Sanders appeared in an ad with his younger brother, Shilo Sanders for a Google TV ad: Polo Just a couple weeks before the draft, Sanders dropped an ad for Polo 67, a cologne scent: đĽ Shedeur Sanders.
Inks Another Sponsorship Deal. Ralph Lauren "Design Your Dream. Polo 67 EDP" đ˝ď¸ @ShedeurSanders https://t.
co/CzTo4EmjLR pic.twitter.com/aoH63qVxsl Other NIL deals Sanders also has other NIL with various companies, such as: 5430 Alliance Actively Black PLB Sports Oikos Yogurt KFC Shedeur Sanders net worth Obviously there's a ton of ambiguity in terms of what is actually correct regarding his net worth.
His aforementioned NIL valuation is $6.5 million, but one outlet reported his net worth to be between $2 and 4 million, as of Dec. 2024.
.
