In the new era of college football, the Longhorns passer probably has more value at his current level than in the NFL.
Not even the most successful programs in college football are immune to the rampant tampering that emerged as a side product of NIL rights and the NCAA transfer portal with a Tuesday report from On3’s Pete Nakos that an unnamed program has offered Texas Longhorns redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers $6 million to transfer instead of entering the 2025 NFL Draft.
The report comes as the Longhorns prepare to face the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl on Wednesday to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals and despite a recent report from Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods that Ewers does plan to make the jump to the NFL following the season.
Understandably, Ewers has been reluctant to discuss his future, maintaining that he hasn’t had any discussion with his family and advisers about entering the draft and is focused on advancing in the playoff.
Since NIL and the portal formed a confluence that encouraged — if not demanded — rampant tampering around the sport, coaches have taken turns shining a spotlight on the issue.
Two years ago, it was UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor trying to use his public platform to an attempt to scare programs away from tampering with his players.
Dear @NCAAFootball How does @UTSAFTBL report Power 5 Schools who are trying to poach our young talent? How much evidence do we really need to make this not be a part of our game?
— Jeff Traylor (@CoachTraylor) December 20, 2022
On Monday, it was UConn head coach Jim Mora.
A simple note to the schools and coaches that have blatantly broken @NCAAFootball rules by tampering with our players in the last 24 hours. We do know who you are, we will pursue all avenues to hold you accountable. We are excited that we’ve built a program where coaches have to… pic.twitter.com/lnO7ITpkYQ
— Jim Mora (@CoachJimMoraFB) December 30, 2024
Of course, these threats are made so publicly because they are so idle — the NCAA has no enforcement mechanisms in place to combat tampering, further evidence of the governing body’s increasing toothlessness as its long decline continues.
The insight into the potential value of Ewers on the open market also reveals how much the landscape of college football has changed in the last several years — not only is Ewers more marketable as a face of college football than he would be in the NFL, a $6 million offer would almost certainly be more than he would make at the next level.
Consider the 2025 rookie pay scale for the NFL, in which only the top five draft picks will receive more than $6 million in their first season. Even making $6 million in the fourth and final season of a rookie contract requires going in the top 13 picks and requires a long wait to reach that threshold.
Postseason feedback from the NFL Draft Advisory Board, based in part upon how Ewers finishes the season, will help influence his decision, along with the knowledge that college experience translates to NFL success at the quarterback position, one of the deciding factors in Ewers returning for the 2024 season.
However that feedback lands, it’s a virtual certainty that Ewers will not be a top-13 pick, much less a top-five pick.
From a practical standpoint as it relates to the Longhorns, when the 2024 season comes to an end, however it ends, the Texas career of Ewers will concurrently come to its conclusion with redshirt freshman Arch Manning having already waited longer than many observers thought was likely to take over the QB1 role on the Forty Acres.
To put it simply, it’s closing time for Ewers and he doesn’t have to go home, but he can’t stay here.
As Manning’s eligibility clock continues to tick, Ewers will have a difficult decision to make — go to the NFL and make substantially less money or leave the program that he dreamed of playing for his entire life to continue cashing in at the college level with the potential that making the latter choice could pit his new program against his old program in the College Football Playoff next year.