NCAA athletes are finally making bank! Let’s check out who’s getting paid in Football Takes’ College NIL Update.

June 21, 2021, will go down as one of the important dates in college sports history and the history of sports in general. That was the day that the US Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA, stating that putting limits on education-related benefits violated antitrust law.

The ruling allows schools to provide unlimited compensation as long as it is related to their education in some way. Not only did the Court rule against the NCAA, but the ruling was a unanimous 9-0.

A week later, the NCAA put a system in place that would allow athletes to be paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). That system went into effect on July 1st. Since then, it’s been a daily barrage of deals for college athletes.

Every day there seems to be several deals coming across our timelines that are getting these young athletes compensated fairly. Some are more than fair, and it is about time.

College NIL Update: Quarterbacks are Receiving Sizeable Deals

To no one’s surprise, some of the biggest deals have been with NCAA D1 starting quarterbacks. While the exact size and format of most of these deals remain private, it isn’t hard to read between the lines of some.

It’s been reported that Alabama QB, Bryce Young, is set to make more than a million dollars before ever starting a regular season game at Alabama. Head coach Nick Saban addressed the issue in a press conference.

“Everything that we’ve done in college athletics in the past has always been equal. Everybody’s had equal scholarship, equal opportunity. Now that’s probably not going to be the case. Some positions, some players will have more opportunities than others.

“How that’s going to impact your team, our team, the players on the team, I really can’t answer because we don’t have any precedent for it.”

Saban also said the following in an interview with 247Sports.

“Our quarterback already has approached ungodly numbers, I’m not going to say what they are. He hasn’t even played yet. He hasn’t been a starter. If I told you what he’s . . . it’s almost 7-figures. And it’s like the guy hasn’t even played yet. That’s because of our program.”

It didn’t take long for Saban to grasp what the landscape would look like. The second comment could almost be construed as a recruiting tool. Many schools will likely use massive NIL deals as a recruiting tool.

These deals are about the brand of the school just as much as the talent and namesake of the players. Alabama is a pretty good brand.

The difference in positions has also become extremely evident. Quarterbacks are making bank. Some have even vowed to split their earnings with their entire team.

CashApp, Sweet Tea, Fried Chicken, and a Start-Up

As mentioned above, Bryce Young is likely going to be a millionaire while he’s still in college. He has a notable deal with CashApp.

Other QBs from around the country have been making some noise as well. Auburn QB, Bo Nix struck up a deal with Milo’s Sweet Tea. Alabama DB Malachi Moore also has a deal with Milo’s.

North Carolina and Clemson’s starting QBs, Sam Howell and DJ Uiagalelei, both have nice deals with Bojangles. Uiagalelei mentioned that he would also be doing charity work and fundraising with the company.

Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton and University of Miami quarterback, D’Eriq King, are going a bit of a different route. They are co-founding Dreamfield, which will basically serve as an agency to get players NIL deals.

Getting What They’ve Earned

Possibly the perfect idea as this thing evolves. And the NCAA thought this would somehow hurt their sport. The long-term effects remain to be seen, but so far, so good for these talented young men and women.

As NCAA Football season kicks off and basketball is right around the corner, expect the deals to get more lucrative and certainly a lot more interesting.