A college football coach has revealed the staggering cost of players in today’s transfer market following the most recent portal cycle.
The dust has finally settled following the end of the 2024 season and preparations are already well underway ahead of the next campaign, with the winter transfer portal window providing programs with plenty of opportunity to welcome fresh faces to campus in a bid to keep improving year on year.
Current NCAA rules prohibit college athletes from being paid for participating in college sports but that doesn’t mean they can’t receive compensation through athletic scholarships or NIL deals to help get a deal over the line, with the average income from NIL deals for student-athletes since its inception just three years ago already reaching up to $10,000.
But in college football, the numbers far exceed that. The introduction of NIL, which stands for “name, image and likeness” and allows players to earn money through endorsements, social media, and other business ventures, has completely changed the game.
Bumper deals are now handed to fresh-faced teenagers in order to get them to commit to programs or prevent them from hitting the transfer portal, yet surprisingly it remains a challenge to get real, hard data on what players are making.
One thing that is known is that a player’s cost depends on their position and performance, with starting quarterbacks understandably receiving the best deals, but one FBS coach has opened up on the current market rate and the astonishing amounts some players are making.
“A (Power 4) starting quarterback, you’re looking at about $1 million,” an anonymous coach told The Athletic. “Running back, depending on what you’re doing, probably $200,000 to $250,000. Receivers… anywhere from $600,000 to $800,000 for a really good one.”
“The going rate for a starting-caliber starting quarterback is about $900,000. Your better ones, top five or six in the conference, will be about $1.3 to $1.4 million range,” they added, bringing to light the eyewatering amounts that are spent on players before they’ve even made it professional in the current market.
Ohio State are just one institution to see a surge in players earning through NIL, with the program reportedly spending $20 million on NIL money for their national championship-winning team. One player to seriously benefit from this is wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
It was recently revealed that the youngster had more money in his bank account than former NFL star Brandon Marshall, who earned over $80 million during his career playing for the likes of the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and the New York Jets. However, Smith has already seemingly surpassed him with regards to their current finances.
The 19-year-old’s earnings are expected to increase further once he enters the NFL, yet it just goes to show how much players are already making before they’ve even made it to that stage. He won’t be the only one to have accumulated a remarkable amount of money, either, with some of college football’s top players proving huge benefactors of NIL.
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