The House vs. NCAA Settlement is expected to legally redefine how college athletes are compensated on Monday, intentionally forcing some order into the current NIL-driven landscape.
How well the settlement holds is another matter, but it’s a step in the direction of schools directly paying college football players under a standardized salary cap, estimated at $20.5 million.
College football rosters will also be capped at 105 players, a considerable amount of downsizing. That will leave many less spots for walk-ons, another key part of college football history being tossed to the side.
There are many other immediate implications — Georgia-related and nationwide — that ought to be understood before the Bulldogs kick off the 2025 season. Below are a few of those things to consider.
Trivia time
Question: What year did NIL first become legalized by the NCAA?
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.
Immediate implications
On top of the 105-man roster cap, perhaps the most infamous part about the settlement is the effective salary cap coming to college football. Teams will be capped at $20.5 million to build their roster, which is expected to grow around 4% annually and be called every three years.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart also mentioned that right now, teams are trying to “front-load” player payments before the settlement is established officially on July 1. It’s a race for teams to pay outside of that salary cap in Year 1 before Year 1 even begins.
The idea that the settlement will bring greater parity to the sport could also be questioned. NIL deals can still be made with players, so long as the businesses are predetermined to not have direct ties with the university in question.
For more on immediate impacts, check out DawgNation’s story on what all could come out of the House Settlement.
Georgia walk-on: ‘Do what you can to be where you’re at’
As mentioned above, one of the current ways of life in college football threatened by the House settlement is the walk-on. As roster sizes shrink to 105, there won’t be near as much space to keep walk-ons, especially on major rosters like Georgia’s.
One such walk-on is UGA linebacker Terrell Foster, who spoke about his focus as the impending settlement approaches.
“We definitely pay attention to it, because it affects a lot of walk-ons,” Foster said. “It affects where they’ll be. It affects how they’re playing out their future in relation to football. I think we’re all aware of it, and we’re all just paying attention to see what could happen. For the most part, you’ve just got to take day by day. Do what you can to be where you’re at right now.”
Kirby Smart recently praised Foster’s competitiveness, leadership and work ethic, saying he earned NIL by the way he works.
It will be interesting to see how many walk-ons like Foster get a chance to earn the way that he has at Georgia moving forward, should the settlement limit the roster the way it’s expected to.
Secondary practice report: Who’s emerging in spring
OK, we’ll swap the law talk for some ball talk for a second here.
Zooming in, we’ll take a look at what several observers from Georgia’s second closed spring practice this weekend.
Several defensive names that needed to step up reportedly appeared to be doing so, while several young defenders are stepping up early in their time in Athens.
Offensively, Georgia might have found another daunting matchup in a freshman pass-catcher while the quarterback and running back races kept chugging along.
Here’s a more detailed look on what spectators could tell DawgNation after the practice.
Photo of the Day
Georgia football has held two scrimmages, the first one (photo) and a second one that took place on Saturday, April 6. Both scrimmages were closed to the media. (@GeorgiaFootball /Dawgnation)
Viral Dawg of the Day
Unlike DawgNation Daily’s infamous Golden Shoe segment, we don’t normally focus on fan posts as much as things that players or coaches have to say on social media.
But Chris Figgures on X (@chrislfiggures) cut a specific part of Georgia’s inter squad scrimmage from the other day, which highlighted something that should encourage Bulldog fans.
Figgures posted a clip of new receivers Landon Roldan and Noah Thomas making eye-popping catches in the scrimmage. They were the kind of catches that have been hard to come by for Georgia, and it’s certainly a sign of something better in 2025.
Quote of the Day
“That’s my best friend,” Zachariah Branch said of playing with brother Zion. “So just to get the chance to grow with him as a person my whole life. You know, from little league to high school to USC and now to Georgia together, it’s something that’s special. A lot of people don’t get a chance to do that. So we’re definitely blessed for that.”
Trivia answer
2021
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