CLEVELAND, Ohio (TheOBR.com) – Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
The world isn’t fair. This may not be news to some of you, but it’s gradually oozing its way into my webdorkian brain on a regular basis.
Since 2000 or so, I’ve had an LLC, which I’m probably going to convert to a Corporation to provide legal standing for the OBR. Most of the checks I get come to that LLC, and it apparently does what it has to do, and has for the last 20+ years. I named it “MediaTNG” in an act of bravado around the turn of the century, as the site was then called “BrownsTNG”.
Shedeur Sanders also has an LLC. It’s called “SS2Legendary”, which is also an act of bravado, as he’s not quite legendary yet. Unless you want to count the fact that he just kicked Tom Brady’s butt.
Front Office Sports reported Saturday that Sanders earned $17.7 million in NFLPA group licensing income over the course of the season, smashing the previous record of $9.5 million set by Tom Brady in the 2021-22 season. CBS Sports and Bleacher Report both picked up the story because “Browns quarterback breaks Brady record” tends to get attention even when the record involves jerseys, trading cards, video games, and other group licensing deals rather than, you know, playoff wins. Those remain stubbornly harder to collect.
The context is wild enough to make even a jaded Browns fan blink. Sanders slid to the 144th pick in the 2025 draft, leaving him on a slotted rookie deal worth roughly $4.6 million – Front Office Sports pegged the average annual salary at about $1.005 million – and then reportedly blew past everybody in licensing income.
That number does not include individual endorsement deals with companies like Gatorade, Delta, Beats by Dre, and Ralph Lauren, according to the FOS report. So, yes, the math here is absurd. If you’re a fifth-round pick and your off-field business looks like a Fortune 500 side hustle, I suppose the phrase “draft slide” starts to feel a little different.
Weep not for Shedeur Sanders.
THE ROOKIES KEEP WAVING THEIR HANDS
The other encouraging thread from the weekend comes from one of Bleacher Report’s listicle-building staff, who put two Browns rookies — safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and wide receiver Denzel Boston — on a short list of rookies who already look like draft-day steals after OTAs. McNeil-Warren went at No. 58 after some evaluators viewed him as a first-round-level talent, and it cited Zac Jackson’s report from The Athletic that the rookie safety “looks the part”.
The numbers from Toledo are the fun part: five interceptions, eight forced fumbles, 207 tackles, and 11 tackles for loss over the last three seasons. That’s disruption. That’s not just standing in the right place and looking handsome in shoulder pads.
Boston, meanwhile, keeps popping up like a guy who understands that opportunity is knocking and would very much like someone to answer the door. The official Browns site said he caught a deep ball from Watson and another down the sideline from Sanders during open OTA work. Offensive coordinator Travis Switzer said Boston is “doing a great job,” first by lining up and knowing the playbook, then by “showing up” and making plays.
Bleacher Report also pointed to Boston’s size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and the obvious need in a wide receiver room that can use someone to become a reliable boundary problem. I am not going to declare him “the guy” on May 31, because I have done enough self-inflicted damage in this job without adding that to the evidence locker. But if you want a young player to dream on while the calendar still says spring, Boston is giving you permission.
And, yes, there is a difference between “permission” and “proof.” We have to keep repeating that because we are Browns fans and our hope has been known to operate heavy machinery without a license.
THE BITONIO THING STILL FEELS WEIRD
Also floating around the weekend links: NFL Trade Rumors looked at potential landing spots for Joel Bitonio, who remains one of the great Browns of this strange era and one of the best offensive linemen of the last decade.
Bitonio is 34, has seven Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro nods, and three second-team All-Pro honors, and the idea of him in another uniform remains about as emotionally appealing as stepping barefoot on a LEGO. But if he wants one more season and wants to chase the ring that Cleveland never gave him, nobody should begrudge him that.
So the Sunday morning summary is this: Shedeur Sanders is already a superstar in the marketplace, the Browns rookie class keeps providing little sparks, and we are still in the part of the offseason where everyone can be whatever we need them to be. A steal. A savior. A solution. Whatever our hope projects.
Enjoy it. Just maybe don’t build the parade float yet.
Source links:
Front Office Sports on Sanders’ $17.7 million licensing income;
CBS Sports on Sanders breaking Brady’s licensing record;
Bleacher Report on Sanders’ licensing record;
Bleacher Report on Browns rookie OTA standouts;
Official Browns story on Travis Switzer and the offense;
NFL Trade Rumors on Joel Bitonio landing spots
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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FROM THE FORUMS
Is Watson under consideration?
LiveWire Thread for 5/30 – Twitter, Video, ArticlesShedeur Sanders has received $17.7 million through the NFLPATHE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond…
A Good News Network item this morning tells us that researchers studied a low-cost sodium-ion battery already being used in cars and large-scale energy storage in China and found that it matches many performance and production-quality marks found in Tesla-style lithium-ion batteries.
That matters because sodium is abundant and widely available, which could eventually lower raw material costs and reduce some supply-chain headaches around critical minerals. Battery researcher Moritz Schütte said, “The combination of good uniformity, high power capability, and strong low‑temperature performance makes these cells attractive for stationary storage, grid services, and shorter‑range or commercial vehicles where potential lower cost and resource availability matter more than maximum driving range.”
I am not smart enough to build a battery, despite an ancient electrical engineering degree. But cheaper, more available energy storage is one of those dull-sounding advances that could make a lot of future things work better. Sometimes progress shows up not with fireworks, but with a better battery and a German researcher saying, “We were positively surprised.”
Around here, positively surprised is also the preferred setting for Browns football.
Read the Good News Network story
WRAPPING UP
When not trying to understand why a fifth-round quarterback’s LLC has better revenue flow in a year than in 20 years of his own operation, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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