College football is facing a financial reckoning, and it’s happening at breakneck speed. In just three years since introducing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules in 2021, the sport has stumbled into what some call the “Sam Bradford Problem.” While the term may seem complex, the problem is familiar to football.
What Is the Sam Bradford Problem?
The “Sam Bradford Problem” is a term that harkens back to the NFL’s own salary struggles in 2010. Bradford signed a staggering six-year, $78 million contract with the St. Louis Rams as a rookie, making him one of the highest-paid players in the league before he’d even taken a snap.
In 2010, Bradford’s deal with the Rams set a dangerous precedent in the NFL. Rookies, often drafted high based on potential rather than proven performance, were commanding salaries that dwarfed those of established stars who’d been grinding for years. This led to resentment in locker rooms and financial strain for teams, as massive rookie contracts ate up salary cap space.
The NFL took 90 years to confront this kind of rookie-veteran pay disparity, eventually addressing it with a rookie wage scale in the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). College football, however, has barreled into the same issue in a fraction of the time, and the fallout could reshape the sport as we know it.
It took like 3 years for college football to develop a Sam Bradford Problem
Took the NFL 90 years https://t.co/w0ptGgSbBW
— James David Dickson (@downi75) May 16, 2025
Fast-forward to this year, and college football is grappling with a similar imbalance, but the stakes feel even higher. The landscape has shifted dramatically since the NCAA allowed athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness in 2021.
Speaking on “The Paul Finebaum Show” recently, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, one of the most successful coaches, sounded the alarm on this issue. He implied that he wants a respectful system and more pay for seniority.
“I just want to be able to have a freshman come in and not make more than a senior, and I’d like for other sports to be able to still survive. You know, we’re on the brink of probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports,” highlighting how this pay disparity disrupts team hierarchy and threatens the broader ecosystem of college sports to a great extent.
Top recruits are signing NIL deals worth millions before they even step on campus, often out-earning upperclassmen who’ve put in years of work. While it is impressive to see such young talent perform well in life, our favorite players build a strong financial foundation, the lopsided pay has created frustrations and instability, to say the least.
Multiple calls have reiterated some form of control on the pay scale, and those who value loyalty have been hurt by the ever-changing landscape.
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