The hottest name in college football is Shedeur Sanders. The Colorado quarterback and son of Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, he had a breakout debut last week against TCU and is now on the minds of every NFL draft pundit in terms of where he will be selected in the 2024 NFL draft.
But Sanders might not even want to bother declaring early. Strictly based on his one big performance as a BCS quarterback, Sanders is now in line to make $3.8 million in NIL this season according to NFL Rookie Watch.
As they also point out, this is more than the base salary of what several NFL quarterbacks such as Joe Burrow and Dak Prescott make. This doesn’t figure in bonuses these guys make so the number is somewhat misleading.
Nevertheless, it does make you wonder if being able to make this much money without the NFL could be motivation for Sanders to stay in school for his senior season. If he continues with what he did in his first game at Colorado, he’s only going to improve his draft stock. It’s a risk/reward gamble in terms of his ability to maintain his current level of play and making the jump to the NFL while his stock is at its peak but if he can make millions a year in college while he builds a program with his day, Sanders could throw all that out the window.
