Ty Simpson, Alabama's quarterback, declared for the NFL Draft despite having eligibility left. He is projected to earn less as a rookie than he could have through NIL deals in college.
Key points
Ty Simpson declared for the NFL Draft in 2026
He has one year of college eligibility remaining
Simpson is projected as a late-first or early-second round pick
He may earn less in the NFL than through NIL deals
Ty Simpson did not have to enter the NFL Draft in 2026. The Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback had a year of college eligibility remaining, but after the 2025 season, declared for the draft.
Now, Simpson is widely considered the No. 2 quarterback available on draft boards later this week, projected as a late-first or early-second round pick who may not be an immediate NFL starter.
Given the modern landscape of college football, there were significant financial implications for Simpson entering the 2025 draft. In fact, based on the NIL amount Simpson recently said he could have received from the Miami Hurricanes in 2026, he's likely going to be making less as an NFL rookie than he could have in NCAA.
Here's how the money Simpson could have made in college in 2026 compares to his projected NFL rookie deal.
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Based on the NIL figure Simpson recently shared he could have gotten from Miami in the transfer portal, and his projected 2026 pay on his NFL rookie deal, the quarterback is likely losing out on millions of dollars to get a jumpstart on his professional career.
In January, Simpson said Miami offered an NIL package of around $6.5 million for him to play for the Hurricanes in the 2026 season after Carson Beck's departure. Tennessee and Ole Miss also both offered around $4-5 million, Simpson said, per On3. The quarterback said he spoke with his parents and considered previous advice from Nick Saban before deciding to go to the NFL.
“I really felt good with my decision to go pro, but that amount of money to play college football again for what amounts to about eight months makes you stop and think,” Simpson said, per On3. “I remember my parents telling me that $6 million was more than they had made the whole time they had been married, but the thing they wanted most for me was to be happy.”
Simpson also recently said on David Pollack's podcast that the NIL package Miami was offering vs. going to the NFL was difficult to consider.
“I think the last offer was definitely one that I just had to sit down and consider, because it would have been life-changing money,” Simpson said, per NBC Sports. “It would have made me the highest-paid player in college, and it was something to where I was like, I can’t just ignore this. I have to sit down and think about it. That’s how I am, I don’t want to do anything sporadic. I want to sit down and think it all out, and it really just came down to how I wanted to be remembered and what do I want to do.”
According to NFL Mock Draft Database, the average draft slot that Simpson is being projected to land in is No. 33, toward the start of the second round. That No. 33 spot in the 2026 draft carries a total rookie contract value of $12,937,488 over four years, according to Spotrac, with the following year-by-year breakdowns:
Year 1: $2,352,270
Year 2: $2,940,338
Year 3: $3,528,406
Year 4: $4,116,474
At face value, assuming Simpson could have received $6.5 million for the 2026 season from Miami but is taken with the No. 33 pick instead, he would be missing out on around $4.2 million in total by heading to the NFL this year instead of waiting.
Granted, Simpson's decision was also a multi-year calculation. By going to the NFL now, not only has he been viewed as the second-best passer — and the top truly "available" quarterback behind Fernando Mendoza — in a weaker class, but he's locking in over $10 million guaranteed for the next four years and getting a leg-up on becoming a starter in the pros.
But at the very least, staying in college for as much time as possible is something that many college stars are now weighing more heavily with their ability to make millions more in NIL. In fact, many of the 2026 draft quarterbacks exhausted all of their college eligibility before going to the NFL, including Beck, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar, Cole Payton and Taylen Green.
