Ty Simpson Turned Down a $6.5M NIL Offer From Miami to Enter the NFL Draft, Where He May Earn Less
Former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson rejected a $6.5 million NIL offer from the University of Miami before declaring for this week's NFL Draft, where he is projected as a late first- or early second-round pick. Per Spotrac, Simpson would need to land in the top 35 picks for his rookie contract to match or exceed Miami's offer. Colts QB Riley Leonard told The Athletic he currently earns less with Indianapolis than he did at Notre Dame on NIL deals, where he was a sixth-round pick on a roughly $1.1M salary. UConn freshman Braylon Mullins, a projected first-round NBA pick, declined early entry and returned for his sophomore year after building NIL value off his March Madness game-winner against Duke. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban counseled Simpson: 'Take the money out of it. What do you want to do next year?'
THE BREAKDOWN
NIL has created a genuine decision problem for elite college athletes and their advisors: for some prospects, staying in school is now the higher-paying option. Agents and managers working with college talent need to model NIL continuation scenarios as a real alternative to early professional entry, not just a fallback. This shifts the timeline of when a prospective client becomes a professional and changes what a first professional contract needs to offer to make the transition financially logical. The NIL market for high-visibility players at power-conference schools is now paying rates that rival entry-level professional sports salaries, and that gap will keep widening as NIL deal structures mature.
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