Sportsnaut
The Cleveland Browns had an unwanted controversy on their hands after selecting two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft and having no starter announced at the time. We now know that Joe Flacco is the Browns’ starting QB, but many felt like Shedeur Sanders, being that he was once hyped as a potential first-round pick, could push to start too.
Of course, Sanders never had a chance to start; most fifth-round rookies never do, especially quarterbacks. Plus, Sanders was buried as the fourth-string QB on the depth chart. However, once Sanders got a chance to play due to injury and Flacco simply being too old to break out for the first game of the preseason, he flourished. His games were also some of the most-watched in the preseason, drawing in over two million viewers.
Overall, Sanders had a mixed performance throughout the preseason, completing 17-of-29 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns. But he also took seven sacks, which was a common weakness of Sanders in college too, where he took 42 sacks, the most in the nation.
Still, the seed had already been planted. Sanders is undoubtedly a controversial figure. Many want to see him play, whether it’s to witness him succeed or fail. Others are already all-in on Deion Sanders’ NFL son, and they’ve committed to their fandom in a big way, by buying Shedeur’s jersey.
According to the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Sanders was among the top ten of overall jersey sales from March-July. Keep in mind, that’s before they even got a chance to see him play in a preseason game.
Shedeur Sanders and Cooper DeJean managed to sell more jerseys than Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson between the months of March and July 🤯
(h/t NFLPA) pic.twitter.com/tzvQmxFjM2
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) September 8, 2025
We don’t quite have the NFL jersey sales numbers for August, so there’s no telling whether Shedeur remains a top-seller. We’d imagine that eventually, other players who are actually making an impact on the field will surpass Sanders in jersey sales.
Yet, maybe not. Perhaps the longer the Browns keep him off the field, the more fans will want to see what he can do in the regular season too. Time will tell.
Related: 2025 NFL QB Rankings
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