With the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Shop Draft, the consumers selected ... Shedeur Sanders.
It has been just over one month since the conclusion of the NFL Draft, and every team has held its rookie mini-camp and began OTA offseason workouts.
And at this point, Sanders leads all rookies in jersey sales, Fanatics told cllct. And it has been that way for the entire month.
Shortly after the conclusion of the draft, where Sanders shockingly slipped to the fifth round and the Cleveland Browns, his jersey was the No. 1 seller among all draft picks, and that was before he even had a number.
He even reached the top spot despite the fact many on social media urged fans to buy items from Sanders’ personal site, instead of from the official NFL Shop, surmising NFL teams colluded not to draft him early.
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At the time, in late April, Sanders had nine apparel options available on the NFL Shop website, second to only the actual No. 1 overall selection, Titans rookie Cam Ward (10).
The number for Sanders’ clothing items is now 14 on the site, and his official No. 12 jersey sells for $129.99.
The No. 12 has long been one of the most important quarterback numbers in history. Of the 34 quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame, eight have worn No. 12, and there will certainly more coming with both Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
Colorado is certainly representing well nationally, as Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter is the No. 2 overall seller among rookies to this point.
Like Sanders, he also wears No. 12
Ward’s No. 1 jersey lands at No. 3 among the top sellers.
Giants rookie edge rusher Abdul Carter checks in at No. 5 overall with his No. 51 jersey. Though one wonders if he would’ve been higher had he been given the green light to wear Lawrence Taylor's No. 56 or Phil Simms’ No. 11.
Carter asked if Taylor would be willing to unretire his legendary jersey number, to which Taylor politely declined.
“I know he would love to wear that number, but, hey, I think it’s retired,” Taylor told the New York Post. “Get another number, I don’t care if it’s double zero, and then make it famous.”
Shortly after, Simms, a two-time Super Bowl champion QB with the Giants, said he’d be willing to bring his No. 11 jersey out of retirement. Carter wore 11 at Penn State as part of a lineage of great defensive players to wear it, including LaVar Arrington, NaVorro Bowman and Micah Parsons.
But Simms’ family convinced him to keep the number retired. Carter eventually settled on 51.
"I feel like it's going to have to grow on me a little bit, but it's feeling good right now," Carter told NFL.com. "It's pretty much what we had available. It's a good number."
The full top 10 is as follows:
- Shedeur Sanders, QB, Cleveland Browns
- Travis Hunter, WR/DB, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Cam Ward, QB, Tennessee Titans
- Ashton Jeanty, RB, Las Vegas Raiders
- Abdul Carter, Edge, New York Giants
- Jaxson Dart, QB, New York Giants
- Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers
- Matthew Golden, WR, Green Bay Packers
- Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears
- Tyler Warren, TE, Indianapolis Colts
Sanders is the only player on the list that was not drafted in the first round.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.