Carson Beck pulled his name from the 2025 NFL Draft and announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on Jan. 9. One day later, he committed to the Miami Hurricanes, signing for a reported $4 million. So why would a college athlete choose to stay in college as opposed to going pro? The answer is simple: NIL can pay more than the NFL.
Reported Carson Beck Miami Mega Deal Showcases College Staying Power
With NIL, college players can potentially make more money staying in college than they can as a rookie in the pros, and the Beck deal demonstrates this well.
Beck saw his draft stock fall all year as he had an up-and-down season. Coming into the year, the former Georgia Bulldogs passer had a Round 1 grade by many scouts and analysts, but by the time he declared for the draft, his grade had fallen to a Day 2 one, with some even projecting him to fall all the way to Day 3.
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With his stock plummeting, Beck looked at his other options and realized he was more valuable to college teams than he was to NFL teams. He signed with Miami, raking in a reported $4 million.
For comparison, as pointed out on X by Barry Jackson, former second-round pick and Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis made $950,000 as a base salary. So if Beck were to fall in the draft, he would’ve made far less money than he is this year at Miami.
This is something that I would expect to happen more often in the world of college football as many players, especially quarterbacks, could find that staying for their senior season could prove to be far more valuable than declaring early for the NFL Draft.
Not to mention, there has been a trend of quarterbacks with more college experience being better prospects and better rookies. Just look at the top two rookie quarterbacks this year in Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix, who played a combined 116 college games.
Beck made the right decision at a time when staying in college has never been more valuable.
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