One of these days, a player who leaves for the draft and who doesn’t like his draft position will try to return to college football for another year of NIL year. Currently, multiple schools are reportedly trying to get former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson to do it before he’s drafted.
Via Nick Kelly of Al.com, Simpson has continued to get offers from other schools for 2026, despite making clear his intention to leave for the NFL. Per the report, at least one school as offered $6.5 million.
By way of comparison, the 13th pick in round three of the 2025 draft (77th overall) received a four-year contract with a total value of $6.5 million.
There’s a question as to whether Simpson can return to college after declaring for the draft. But, frankly, given that the entire NCAA structure is an antitrust house of cards, it won’t take much of a gust of wind to blow down the rule that, once you declare for the draft, you can’t go back. Indeed, the NCAA recently granted James Nnaji four years of eligibility even though he was drafted by the NBA three years ago.
Simpson has a business decision to make. The best news is that college players finally have the ability to make business decisions. He can take a $6.5 million bird in the hand and enter the draft in 2027, or he can roll the dice on laying the foundation for an NFL career that, if all goes well, will get him paid a lot more later.
Regardless of whether he makes a good decision or a bad decision, the fact that he can even make the decision is a tangible sign of real progress in college football.
