When college athletes go to the NFL, some of them are taking pay cuts in the millions

By Weston Blasi

Oregon's Dante Moore is stiff-arming the NFL to keep playing college football next season - and he'll still make millions of dollars

Millionaire college athletes grapple with when it makes financial sense to turn pro.

Now that the college football season has wrapped, many top players are facing a high-stakes decision: Should they return to school, transfer or turn pro?

Fernando Mendoza, 22, who carried Indiana University to its first national championship, has picked going pro: He will soon be taking his talents to the NFL, leaving a year of NCAA eligibility on the table.

He's looking at a potentially huge payday. If he becomes the No. 1 overall pick in this summer's NFL draft, Mendoza will make $10 million in his first year as a rookie, with a total contract value of $55 million over four years.

But while Mendoza has already declared for the draft, some top college players are making a different choice - opting to stay in college.

So what's the appeal of going back to school instead of heading to the pros? In years past, football prospects with NFL dreams have often stayed in college for another year or two to improve their draft outlook by having an even stronger college season before entering a future draft. Because NFL players who are drafted higher get bigger salaries and bonuses, improving your credentials and draft position can mean millions more in a player's pocket down the road.

But this year many of these college football players are actually banking on making more money in the near term by staying in school.

Since football is the main revenue driver for a lot of schools' athletic departments, football players, and particularly top quarterbacks, tend to receive the most compensation through various name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, which athletes have been able to monetize since 2021.

"They could make more in college, actually," Lisa Delpy Neirotti, the director of the sports-management program at George Washington University's business school, told MarketWatch. "You're seeing [college] players get $4 million. Maybe even more."

'They could make more in college, actually.'Lisa Delpy Neirotti, George Washington University

Look no further than Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who was projected to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft. But Moore, 20, has opted to stay at Oregon instead of turning pro.

It's not clear what types of NIL deals Moore will get after staying in school, but On3's proprietary NIL algorithm (which draws on deal data, performance, influence and exposure) puts his NIL valuation at an estimated $3 million per year. This figure is comparable to what his annual NFL earnings would be if he were selected in the first round of the draft.

If Moore changed his mind and did go to the NFL this year, he could get anywhere from $2.9 million to $9.5 million his first year, depending on the draft position at which he's picked, per Spotrac.

Other top college players have NIL valuations that are on par with NFL salaries for high-draft-choice rookies, which gives them even more incentive to stay in school. Texas's Arch Manning, a scion of the quarterbacking Manning clan, has an NIL value of $5.6 million, while Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith has an NIL value of $4.2 million, and incoming Louisiana State transfer Sam Leavitt, a quarterback, has a $4 million NIL valuation, per On3.

"College sports are basically pro sports teams now," Neirotti said of the money being ponied up to recruit and retain players.

There's so much money moving around in college sports, in fact, that football and basketball programs in particular have begun hiring general managers to navigate their informal salary caps and oversee recruitment - similar to how pro teams operate.

And that's not all. For some schools, local governments are stepping up to incentivize highly paid athletes with promised tax breaks. Arkansas became the first U.S. state to create legislation that exempts NIL payments from its state income tax, for example - the top state income-tax rate in Arkansas for individuals is 3.9%.

From the archives (April 2025): Here's how much money Shedeur Sanders lost out on by falling to the fifth round of the NFL draft

Some have been critical of this new-era college system - including such coaching legends as Deion Sanders and Nick Saban - because it allows student-athletes to change schools more freely via the transfer portal, often in pursuit of greater riches, meaning many coaches across all sports are turning over large parts of their rosters each year.

But some alumni and fans have also begun voicing complaints about NIL deals on social media, concerned that college athletes are opting to stick around on campus for much longer than they had historically, making college sports feel not only professionalized but populated by athletes who are as old as many professional players.

University of Miami quarterback Carson Beck, who played four seasons at Georgia, made headlines this week by saying he had graduated two years ago.

Beck went to Miami as a graduate transfer, and is currently a sixth-year collegian. He received an extra year of eligibility through the NCAA's COVID-era waiver, and another through the NCAA's graduate transfer rules. Beck was enrolled in classes for the fall 2025 semester but not for the spring 2026 semester, according to the AP, making him eligible to play throughout the College Football Playoff despite not taking any classes in the semester that, at most schools, began this month.

Beck received $4 million for having sought and won that eligibility extension to play at Miami, CBS has reported. Unlike fellow quarterbacks Mendoza and Moore, Beck is not generally seen as a top NFL prospect, and his being drafted by any team is not a certainty.

Of course, every situation is different, and players and professionals involved in college sports note that it's entirely possible that college athletes are weighing factors beyond finances before making their career decisions. Being a big-time athlete on a college campus has its perks, including on-campus fame; participation in a storied social scene; and getting to perform in a less pressurized environment, often alongside friends, as compared with the NFL.

Neirotti understands that athletes in their early 20s may think to themselves, "I like college football. It's fun, not as much pressure, maybe more credits toward a degree."

Or, as Oregon's Moore said of sticking around Eugene: "I'm still 20 years old, so I'm still young, and I have a lot of memories to make out here in college. I'm excited to be around the guys."

SportsWatch (March 2024): Caitlin Clark is turning pro. She could probably make more money staying in college another year.

-Weston Blasi

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