Ohio State won a college football national championship on Monday. The Buckeyes are already in jeopardy of losing their top pass-catchers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, just four days later.
Head coach Ryan Day is forced to re-recruit his entire roster as other schools try to poach his best players with NIL deals worth no less than $1,000,000. This is just how it goes in the modern era!
Fans and analysts made a very big deal about the amount of money Ohio State spent to assemble its eventual national championship roster during the offseason. The total supposedly hovered around $20 million. Although that number is absolutely on the higher end of spending in college football, other programs with the same or more money were likely thrilled that the conversation focused on Columbus.
The Buckeyes spent a massive fortune to win the national title. They will need to spend just as much (if not more) NIL money to keep the roster in tact.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are the two players in highest demand. Smith, a rising sophomore, caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns as a five-star freshman. Tate caught 52 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns in 2024. He will play an even bigger role next season with Emeka Egbuka off to the NFL… if he stays.
Neither Smith nor Tate are in the transfer portal. That did not stop other teams from tampering.
The former reportedly received an offer worth at least $4.5 million to leave. The latter has an offer on the table that would also pay him seven figures, though on the lower end.
Those two deals combined are worth approximately 25% of Ohio State’s total NIL budget for 2024. Will the Buckeyes be able to spend that kind of money again in 2025? Stay tuned.
With revenue share on the horizon, college football teams have money to blow so the market is inflated. These kinds of deals are not going to exist for that much longer. Star players like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are getting offers that are unsustainable. But that is the current value and the ball is now in Ohio State’s court to either pay up or let them walk!