It’s long overdue that college football players are getting paid, even if they’re still not getting paid directly by the college football machine. This new reality for big-time college football will have a ripple effect on the NFL.
As multiple league sources have opined in recent months, the availability of payment for name, image, and likeness will make some players more likely to stay in school for another year, or two. Throw in the transfer portal, and some players will be able to spark a bidding war.
Jim Nagy, who serves as the executive director of the Senior Bowl, tweeted this morning that he’s hearing that some skill-position players in the transfer portal are being offered $5 million or more.
“It has considerably thinned out QB class for 2023 NFL Draft,” Nagy said.
Previously, when college players weren’t getting paid, they wanted to get to the NFL as quickly as possible, to start getting paid. If they’re now getting paid -- and if they’re making more than they would be making as rookies -- there’s less of a rush to get to the NFL.
They’ll eventually make it to the NFL, so it won’t be a huge problem for pro football. There’s another NIL wrinkle, however, that could complicate reality for NFL teams. I’ll explain that one in a later post.
