Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals have changed the landscape of college football, and if they haven’t already, they could soon begin impacting the NFL draft.
Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck has transferred to the Miami Hurricanes and he’s set to earn $4 million in 2025. Beck opted to transfer after initially planning to enter the NFL draft. It’s easy to see why he backed out of the draft given how much he can earn in college.
In fact, Beck will earn more than Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix next fall (hat tip to Oregon Ducks On SI for pointing that out). Nix is set to have a base salary of $960,000 with an additional $681,053 through a roster bonus, giving him $1,641,053 total compensation in 2025.
Of course, Nix did receive a signing bonus of $10,356,848 up front after being picked by the Broncos in the first round of the NFL draft. For salary cap purposes, that is spread out as $2,589,212 over four years, giving Nix a total salary cap hit of $4,230,265 in 2025.
So in terms of newly-paid money, Nix will earn about $1.64 million in 2025, but his 2024 signing bonus far outweighs Beck’s compensation. Still, with Beck earning so much at the NCAA level, more QBs might start opting to stay in school rather than declare for the NFL draft going forward.
