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The Matthew Sluka saga continues to unfold with new details shedding light on the quarterback’s bizarre redshirt decision. Now, his agent is under fire.
Sluka, despite making three starts and leading the Rebels to wins over Kansas and Houston, opted to sit out the remainder of the season in order to preserve his final year of eligibility.
Unfulfilled NIL promises were to blame, according to the passer.
Claims have now surfaced that UNLV pledged $100,000 in NIL money when Sluka initially signed with the program in the offseason. He’s said to have received just $3,000 of that total thus far, and the Rebels don’t have any intention to pay out the rest.
Sluka’s camps suggests that his new school put that deal in place with the plan of making payments over time. However, when asked about the money time and again, UNLV continuously pushed the payment dates back.
On September 19th, according to Matthew Sluka’s father, the quarterback’s agent was informed that the payments weren’t coming.
Now, the agent is being criticized for his role in the negotiation process.
Sluka’s agent told ESPN that it was a “verbal” promise from UNLV/its collective. Source tells @NBCSports that is accurate and nothing was in writing. https://t.co/PGKUBcPqsb
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) September 25, 2024
National college football writers Nicole Auerbach and Pete Thamel have reason to believe that the initial $100,000 NIL deal was never in writing.
It was only a verbal agreement!
The news led to immediate backlash for Matthew Sluka’s agent, who happens to be former NFL player Marcus Cromartie, now working for Equity Sports.
“During Matt’s recruitment, we talked about a number north of $100K to $150K,” Cromartie told On3 Sports. “This was a number that would be given to Matt to come there. We talked about if we could get to $150K that would be great, but $100K was the number.”
According to Cromartie, the quarterback was set to receive a contract when he enrolled this past summer but “it didn’t happen.” Blueprint Sports, which manages UNLV’s NIL collective, confirmed to On3 that there was never a contract extended.
A written agreement was supposed to be sent, but it was never received. Cromartie continuously pushed for terms to be set, but pleas were made after Sluka had already joined the team.
UNLV insists that the supposed verbal negotiation doesn’t tie them to a $100K responsibility. Now, the two sides are set to split.
Many blame Matthew Sluka’s agent for that final outcome!