• Loading stock data...
Friday, April 25, 2025

Quinn Ewers Picks NFL Over NIL

Ewers had a reported $6 million offer to stay in college, but he is eschewing it for a chance to play in the pros.

Quinn Ewers
The Columbus Dispatch

When Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers entered college football, he was known as one of the earliest major NIL (name, image, and likeness) earners. He’s chosen to eschew yet another chance at a college payday for the NFL.

Ewers announced Wednesday that he would declare for the 2025 NFL Draft, less than a week after the Longhorns lost in the College Football Playoff semifinals Friday. He’s likely to earn less in his first year in the NFL than he would have if he stayed in college another year.

Ewers reportedly received a $6 million offer if he entered the transfer portal and stayed in college—but he’s unlikely to earn that much in his first year in the NFL.

His draft stock is fuzzy, with one NFL GM projecting him as a top-100 pick to ESPN and another saying he’d fall below that. The 2025 NFL salary cap has not been announced yet, but the slotted contract for the last pick of the first round last year was a four-year, $12 million deal with a $5.8 million signing bonus. That slot value gradually drops with each pick; the No. 100 selection was slotted at a four-year, $5.5 million deal with a $890,000 signing bonus. The last pick of the fourth round received a four-year, $4.5 million deal with a $528,000 signing bonus.

Ewers can and will bolster his NFL earnings with outside endorsements, though many college NIL boosters are really paying top dollar to make sure a player lands with their preferred team.

Ewers’s decision is the exact opposite of many other players in his situation, like Penn State’s Drew Allar, who have opted to exhaust their eligibility given the amount of money they can make while still in college.

Other coveted quarterbacks are earning anywhere from $5 million to $10 million in the current transfer portal. Carson Beck transferred to Miami for a package of deals that, including money from the Miami NIL collective Canes Connection, are worth $10 million, as Front Office Sports previously reported. Michigan’s Bryce Underwood agreed to an eight-figure deal with the Wolverines’ NIL collective that was bankrolled by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, as FOS reported

And the NIL deals are just the beginning. As a result of the pending House v. NCAA settlement proposal approved in April, schools could begin sharing revenue with players as early as this upcoming season. Athletic departments will be allowed to distribute about $20.5 million in total in their first year to all the athletes at their school. Football players are expected to get the lion’s share of that money, though the application of a Title IX gender equity statute could throw a wrench in those plans. 

Ewers’s decision marks the end of the road for one of the faces of the early NIL era. He will arguably be remembered for one of the biggest headlines of that period: In 2021, Ewers was a high school student in Texas, which, at the time, had a state law prohibiting high school athletes from earning NIL money. So he decided to reclassify from the 2022 class to the 2021 class, in order to enter college a year early after committing to the Ohio State Buckeyes—and, in turn, earning six to seven figures in NIL money. 

Ewers didn’t stay in Columbus for long. He redshirted and joined the Texas Longhorns in 2022, the team he had originally committed to before he flipped to Ohio State out of high school. And while he has helped the Longhorns return to the top of the college football landscape, he was unable to lead them to a national championship appearance.  

With Ewers gone, backup Arch Manning is expected to start for the Longhorns in 2025.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Trump Defends Sanders After Snub: ‘What Is Wrong With NFL Owners?’

He said Shedeur Sanders has “phenomenal genes” and asked if owners are “stupid.”

Goodell: Three NFL Games Every Christmas Moving Forward

The league is returning to scheduling three games on the holiday this season.
Mar 28, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Lamont Butler (1) dribbles the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers in the first half during a Midwest Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium.

College Sports Has Become a Billion-Dollar Business. Kentucky Is Embracing It

Kentucky said its LLC would operate similarly to two hospitals run by the university.
Dec 27, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; A close up view of New York Knicks forward Julius Randle (30) shoes during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center.

Skechers Is Latest Company to Pull Guidance, Citing U.S. Tariffs

Skechers’s healthy international business will help it weather the effects of tariffs.

Featured Today

The Former NBA Agent Who Became a Pickleball Deputy Commissioner

Chris Patrick went from representing Jimmy Butler to pickleball deputy commissioner.
Apr 5, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts after a three point basket against the Houston Cougars during the first half in the semifinals of the men's Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome.
April 21, 2025

Cooper Flagg’s Timing Is Perfect for the NBA and USA Basketball

The projected No. 1 pick just declared for the draft.
Apr 14, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Paige Bueckers is interviewed by ESPN after being selected with the number one overall pick to the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards
April 21, 2025

ESPN’s WNBA Coverage Mirrors the League’s Stunning Growth

“I don’t think we stand still in our coverage of women’s sports,” says Rowe.
Mar 16, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrates with guard Isaiah Joe (11) after score in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.
April 20, 2025

Unorthodox OKC: The Thunder Redefined Tanking to Become NBA’s Best

A rebuild years in the making has OKC in the driver’s seat.
Ole Miss

Coach Yo: Women’s College Hoops Are ‘Pay for Play’

Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin built a top transfer class this offseason.
April 24, 2025

The House Settlement Is in Jeopardy. Here’s What It Will Take to..

The parties will try to salvage the settlement over the next two weeks.
Jan 21, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; College Football Playoff executive director Rich Clark speaks during the CFP National Championship Host Committee handoff press conference at The Westin Peachtree Plaza, Savannah Ballroom.
April 24, 2025

CFP Meetings End With No Major Changes to 12-Team Playoff—for Now

For now, the complicated seeding process will remain in place.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

This week, Two-time Super Bowl Champion and CBS NFL analyst Logan Ryan joins us to talk the business of sports on our third installment of Portfolio Players.
NC State women's cross country
April 23, 2025

Judge Threatens to Reject $2.8 Billion House v. NCAA Settlement

The NCAA and power conferences could end up at trial.
Dec 27, 2024; Memphis, TN, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks defensive back Miguel Mitchell (16) returns an interception during the forth quarter against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
April 23, 2025

NIL Contract Buyouts Are More Common, but Can They Be Enforced?

The Arkansas collective has issued two demand letters to players to pay buyouts.
Flau'jae Johnson
exclusive
April 23, 2025

Flau’jae Johnson Says She Will Return to LSU

The transfer portal closed Wednesday.
Fordham
April 23, 2025

Fordham Hit With Rare NIL Era NCAA Sanctions

The Rams were hit with recruiting violations stemming from a Times Square photo shoot.