I find it amusing when a sportswriter claims that LeBron James or Steph Curry would fetch their current market value twice or triple. While that might be the case, the reality is otherwise. The same is valid for Florida QB recruit Jaden Rashada, who received a quotation from a Gainesville collective for $13 million in NIL deals. Rashada has requested to be removed from his scholarship because the reality was far less than expected. In the era of NIL transactions, this is just mayhem, as usual. In our opinion, they greatly help recruiters and unpaid student-athletes. Just not as profitable as you might assume.

Before even taking a snap for the Tide, former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young allegedly pocketed $800,000 in NIL deals. Alarms ought to have gone off when some finance employee at the UF collective came up with that ridiculous number because the Heisman winner didn’t make seven figures when he was in Rashada’s position. Who informed him of $13 million? Joe Burrow, who has played in a Super Bowl, did not even make that on his rookie contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. A high school recruit from central Florida with a last name other than Manning has little chance of showing up on campus and signing an eight-figure NIL agreement.

Getty Images/ Tribune News Service/ Orlando Sentinel/ Stephen M. Dowell

The Gators are facing the difficult situation of searching for a starting quarterback. In Florida’s 2023 recruiting class, Rashada was the player with the best ranking; the choice now will be made by whoever prevails in the conflict. There have been whispers that Florida will use the transfer portal, but by the time the NCAA’s formal transfer window ended today, most realistic choices had already chosen their new schools. For an option that came about as a result of a group failing to fulfill a promise, Rashada will undoubtedly receive more venom than she can handle. The No. 6 quarterback recruit appeared to be headed to Coral Gables and the University of Miami before committing to Florida, and it seems that’s where he might end up in the end.