Jaden Rashada gets crazy NIL money after Miami Football pledge

If you had any idea why Jaden Rashada wound up committing to Miami football, well, I’m sure the $9.5 million NIL deal had nothing to do with it. 

Mario Cristobal is a great recruiter, but even he can’t compare to the $9.5 million dollars that Miami football quarterback commitment Jaden Rashada is expected to receive in an NIL deal according to a report from Jeremy Crabtree of On3.com who wrote this about the deal:

"“Multiple sources told On3 Rashada agreed to a NIL deal with Miami mega-booster John Ruiz for $9.5 million. The same sources said Rashada turned down an offer from Florida’s Gator Collective for $11 million. Both offers blow out of the water the Caspino-brokered $8 million deal for a five-star recruit thought to be Tennessee quarterback commitment Nico Iamaleava."

Rashada is the seventh-ranked quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class and a top-50 overall prospect. The four-star QB also now owns the largest reported NIL deal.

He visited Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, and Miami football in the last month. He even delayed his decision until Sunday to allow the time to visit Miami, which then started trending with expert projections after.

NIL money is getting crazy

For booster John Ruiz, it looks like it was money well spent, although it should be noted that Rashada didn’t take the highest offer on the table, which belonged to Florida at $11 million.

NIL isn’t supposed to be pay-for-play, yet here Miami football and Florida were both offering a deal to pay a commit before he even steps on campus as a student.

That’s not how any of this should be working or is supposed to work.

People were killing Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M for buying the No. 1-ranked recruiting class and anyone saying NIL didn’t play a factor there isn’t being honest, just like saying NIL wasn’t a factor for Jaden Rashada.

Maybe it wasn’t the deciding factor, because he was going to get a bag wherever he went, but the fact that it was a forgone conclusion isn’t good for college football.

I understand why teams allow it to happen and if it’s through the collective, there probably isn’t anything technically wrong with it, at least by the letter of the law.

But the way NIL is being used is giving some programs a distinct advantage. You either play the game or you don’t and the college football teams that don’t, are going to have a hard time landing just about any recruit ranked in the top 100.