Bryce Underwood is the top-ranked prospect in the college football recruiting Class of 2025. Although he committed to LSU more than 300 days ago, Michigan remains in close contact with the five-star quarterback and NIL money plays a big role in the conversation.
Underwood will get paid a large fortune to play for the Wolverines or the Tigers.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, he is expected to “land an NIL package valued at or above $5 million over three to four years, no matter which school he lands at.” A 17-year-old who won’t even turn 18 until August is slated to receive an annual salary of more than $1 million while in college. Think about that for a second. Underwood will be a multimillionaire before he can take a legal sip of alcohol.
Will Bryce Underwood flip?
LSU received a commitment from the Michigan-native back in January. However, the flagship university of his home state recently got back in the mix over the last month or so. Sherrone Moore is desperate to land a signal-caller and rallied the troops to get back on Underwood’s radar.
Dave Portnoy recently promised $3 million in NIL money for the Wolverines to get a quarterback. He is very involved with what On3 called “the most well-funded Michigan NIL operation since the NIL era began in July 2021.” Other deep-pocket boosters also stepped up to present a financial package similar to the one being offered by the Bayou Bengals in Baton Rouge.
Here’s the thing.
Bryce Underwood committed to LSU in large part because of offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Money is/was a secondary factor to his decision, even though $5 million is obviously pretty sweet.
That will continue to be the case. Underwood will pick a school based primarily on football. A bidding war might soon unfold but the program that offers the most money won’t necessarily get the guy.
In fact, Underwood recently laughed at a rumor that a $4 million NIL deal is going to get him to to flip from LSU to Michigan. Maybe he was telling us everything we need to know. Maybe it was smoke.
The Tigers and the Wolverines will continue to battle it out over the next month and a half!