"No recruit is worth 13 million bucks": Podcaster JBOY reacts to Georgia QB Jaden Rashada's legal move against UF HC Billy Napier
Georgia's Jaden Rashada has sued the head coach of the Florida Gators, Billy Napier, over a NIL deal. Rashada originally committed to the Gators and was promised a NIL deal worth, according to the lawsuit, $13 million.
In response to this lawsuit and the news of the alleged NIL deal, the host of the "Crain and Co" podcast, Jake "JBOY" Crain reacted on social media:
"No recruit is worth 13 million bucks," he said.
Jaden Rashada was originally involved in a recruitment battle between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes. In the end, the Gators won, but only after they promised Rashada a larger NIL deal than the Hurricanes did.
However, Florida was never able to deliver on this promise. When the deal fell apart, Rashada decommitted from the Gators and later committed to the Arizona State Sun Devils.
This begs the question, why did the Florida Gators entice a player to their program with an unbelievably large amount of potential earnings?
Rashada had the potential to become the starting QB quickly but had to compete with Graham Mertz for the role. If he did get the role, his presence of being a QB at one of the biggest programs in the country would have been enough for him to ensure many large NIL deals would be available.
If the deal did go through, Rashada would have earned $3.46 million a year without any other additional deals signed. This would have made him the second-highest earner in college football, only behind Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders, according to On3's NIL Value tracker.
The NIL and Recruitment: Jaden Rashada is only the tip of the iceberg
The passing of the NIL in 2021 allowed college athletes to make money from the use of their names and images. It has revolutionized college football and has put the players front and center, not only as athletes but also as icons.
The NIL benefits players and has turned some of the best players in college football into millionaires before they enter the NFL.
But, the laws surrounding how programs use the NIL, especially in terms of recruiting, are incredibly vague. Additionally, there have been a few programs along with Florida that have been investigated over its uses of NIL in recruitment.
Rashada's lawsuit is the first time that a player will sue an athletic program, one that is now a rival to his Georgia Bulldogs. The results of this lawsuit have the potential to open Pandora's box and lead to many other players suing their former teams for alleged NIL deals that never came to fruition.
A simple solution to this large issue would be for the NCAA to heavily stamp down any forms of interference in the recruitment process. Unfortunately, the practices that Rashada was subject to are becoming commonplace, and many more players are potentially being promised deals that will never be.
Do you think that Jaden Rashada's lawsuit will be successful?