With college football now in the era of NIL (name/image/likeness) acting as a pseudo-free agency, getting top-end talent to your program now involves a sizable amount of money, according to Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule.
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Rhule — formerly of Temple, Baylor and the Carolina Panthers — says it costs about $1.5 million to get a good quarterback onto your college football team.
"A good quarterback in the portal costs $1 million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now...there's some teams that have $6M or $7M players playing for them." - Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule on the going rate for quality QBs in the transfer portal. 💰 pic.twitter.com/0qvkLJAilt
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) November 29, 2023
"A good quarterback in the portal costs $1 million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now...there's some teams that have $6M or $7M players playing for them."
Two names circulating recently as transfer candidates have been Duke Blue Devils signal-caller Riley Leonard and Washington State's Cameron Ward.
Leonard spent some time on the sideline due to injury this year but is a known dual-threat player. Meanwhile, Ward is regarded as one of the top passers.
This season, Ward completed 324 of 486 passes for 3,723 yards, 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Ward reportedly has 10 transfer offers in the seven-figure range, which is on par with what Rhule said.
"Let's just say I heard from one source, and a pretty dialed in one, that Cam Ward ... has 10 seven-figure deals waiting for him," Fox college football analyst Brock Huard told his Seattle Sports co-host, Mike Salk. "He has 10 different deals from around the country that will pay him seven figures to come be their quarterback."
Fans on X had mostly negative things to say regarding Rhule's comments about players receiving these sizable payments.
- 11-27 at the Panthers
- made ~$28 million during that time
- was fired and signed an 8yr/$74 million with Nebraska
- is currently suing the Panthers for money he believes he’s still owedAnd this guy has the audacity to bash players for getting paid. Wild.
— griffin (@gpair24) November 29, 2023
@CoachMattRhule, you signed an 8 year $74 million contract that equates to $9.25 a year.
I guess it makes sense to pay you that much a year but not the players that are on the field actually playing the game?
— griffin (@gpair24) November 29, 2023
"@CoachMattRhule, you signed an 8 year $74 million contract that equates to $9.25 a year," one user wrote. "I guess it makes sense to pay you that much a year but not the players that are on the field actually playing the game?"
Given Rhule's comments — whether they're about Ward, Leonard or someone else about to hit the transfer portal — it's clear we're in a new era of college football that Nebraska is, perhaps, unable to compete in.
