By Cody Hatfield
A tweet from @NFCNorthNewss, reported on by Total Pro Sports (TPS), claims that Caleb Williams could forgo the NFL Draft and return to USC for his senior season if he doesn't end up with one of the five teams he has selected. The reason for staying another year? He claims he can make more money from NIL deals.
The five teams that Williams has selected are the Cowboys, 49ers, Vikings, Giants, and Raiders. Why he chose these teams, we don't know, but that's what the rumors are saying. According to the most recent 2024 mock draft by Joseph Acosta of SBNation, the Chicago Bears are trending to have the first overall pick. We don't know how the rest of the football season will go, whether in college or the NFL, but it's looking like Caleb Williams will be the first overall pick, and the Bears seem to be the team that will draft him. So I guess that means Caleb is returning for his senior season.
The first overall pick in the NFL has an estimated Rookie Contract valued at around $41.2 million. That is more than the top 10 NIL deals combined. The thought process to stay in college because he can make more money is ridiculous. But eventually, if the NCAA doesn't figure out how to handle or regulate these NIL deals, it will get to the point where players like Bronny James or the Arch Mannings, the football legacy kids, will be able to hold professional sports teams hostage for a year or two because they can create massive NIL deals based on their name alone.
Only time will tell what will happen. The NIL deals are only going to get bigger and bigger!