We are on the cusp of another transfer portal period that could have major ramifications on how much money athletes will be asking for if the House settlement is not approved before next week.
This time, it’s college football. While we have seen some major transactions take place over the last few weeks in college basketball, this could be the tipping point if the settlement is still being negotiated.
Over the past 48 hours, there have been numerous deals done in basketball that are eye-popping, including Texas Tech’s JT Toppin returning for another season, with an NIL deal that will reportedly pay him over $4 million for next year.
And while these types of deals will continue to get hammered out before the basketball portal period ends, with teams looking to front-load deals to keep them off the ‘rev-share’ books in July, it’s football that is about to take center stage again.
The transfer portal opens next week in college football, and schools are trying to beat ‘House’ settlement Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images
Will College Football Have A Financial Frenzy Before House Settlement?
We are currently headed towards a wild scenario that could impact college football teams, especially the ‘collectives’ that are helping fund these contracts. The transfer portal period will run from April 16-25th, making this one of the more intriguing periods we’ve seen in a long time, if the House settlement is not agreed to by the start of the portal period.
Right now, there are schools working under the premise that there could be a few days of portal action that would fall under the same rules that are currently transpiring in basketball. While many across college football thought that the settlement would be agreed to before the spring window opened, there is a scenario where this isn’t the case.
When the House settlement is agreed to, there will be a cap of $20.5 million for 2025-26, and beyond. This means that all deals done after an agreement is signed will fall into a new category of rules, with every deal that is agreed to having to be looked at by a new enforcement staff.
“We are on the brink of pure craziness if we’re headed into the portal period with the same guidelines that have been worked with in recent years,” one Power-4 HC told OutKick. “Can you imagine how many players with monetary value would hit the portal next week knowing they could still get a huge deal that would not fall under the rev-share rules? It’s a risk that some players are told to take.
“I’m having to deal with the school right now, along with collectives, because I’ve got players on my roster that have pesky agents looking to cash-in on this potential gap in time. If the judge doesn’t approve the settlement in time, it could get pretty dicey until she does. I am also about damn tired of these agents blowing up my phone, and I know how our general manager feels.”
Meaning, schools are worried that football players will want to find as much money as possible over the next week that will not fall under the guidelines that will be in place this summer. So, while basketball programs are front-loading deals right now to be paid off before the July 1st start of revenue-sharing, this could end up being a problem for football teams as well.
Now, if the House settlement is approved next week before the transfer portal opens, then none of this will matter, because the deadline will have already passed to front-load these deals. But, there is a scenario where collectives are negotiating big paydays for transfers next week, and that would be a wild scenario for coaches across the country.
“It would be a disaster, and I don’t know of any coach that thinks that’s healthy or good for our sport,” Auburn’s Hugh Freeze told ESPN this week.
Most Players Know If They Are Going To Hit The Transfer Portal
By now, there are players across college football that know if they are going to hit the transfer portal when it opens next week. Whether that’s because their agents have been putting in the work to find them a new home, or they are being ‘tampered’ with by other schools, it’s going to happen.
Will there be players that want to take a risk and enter the portal based off how the House settlement is going? Sure, but I can promise you that if the player is good enough for a top-tier program, they will already know where they will be playing next season.
The problem for some of these schools is how much money they have to work with right now, compared to what is coming with revenue-sharing. A lot of schools already have front-loaded deals so that they will be off the books by the time July 1st rolls around. So, this will come down to a team’s needs at a certain position.
The transfer portal opens next week in college football, and schools are trying to beat ‘House’ settlement Stephen Lew-Imagn Images and Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Yes, there will be some ‘known’ names that take the plunge, while we will also see our regular round of portal madness even without the House settlement looming.
The main point of all this is that we are headed for another two-week span that will benefit some schools who are looking to make a splash.
But, with the athletic departments across the country waiting for a judge in California to rule on a settlement that will alter the future of college athletics, there are programs that will roll the dice next week, with money to spend.
Tick, Tock.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
