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Despite never playing a snap of college football, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood entered the 2025 college football season as one of the highest-paid players in college football.
Underwood, a Michigan native, reportedly inked a four-year deal with the Wolverines in excess of $12 million in order to prise him away from the LSU Tigers.
With high pay, however, comes high expectations.
Underwood won the starting job out of camp, a move that was largely expected considering how much Michigan is paying it. It was always highly unlikely that head coach Sherrone Moore would be allowed to sit the freshman making $3 million on the bench.
Underwood showed flashes of greatness throughout the season. But for the most part, he failed to live up to expectations. The five-star recruit finished the season with just 2,229 yards passing, nine touchdowns, and six interceptions to go along with 323 yards rushing and five more scores.
In the biggest game of the season against rival Ohio State, Underwood completed just 8-of-18 passes for 63 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. He also had just one rushing yard on six attempts.
Dave Portnoy Isn’t Paying Up To Keep Bryce Underwood At Michigan
In all, Underwood’s true freshman season wasn’t a disaster. But it was certainly underwhelming. Which is why Bartstool Sports founder and president Dave Portnoy, who contributed to Underwood’s initial NIL deal, says he won’t be paying up if Underwood asks to renegotiate.
“I’m out of it. He’d have to have some big balls to say he wants to renegotiate now,” Portnoy said during an appearance on The Triple Option podcast. “I don’t think that’s coming down the ‘pike. That would be surreal. I’m out of it.”
Underwood has not given an indication that he wants to leave Ann Arbor. However, Portnoy noted that there’s nothing stopping him should he choose to do so.
“It really seems like if somebody came along and said, ‘Hey Bryce, here’s $20 mill,’ I think he could bounce if he wanted to. I don’t think there’s any rules going on with that, as far as I could tell,” he noted.
Given Underwood’s inconsistent play, it’s unlikely that a $20 million offer is coming his way anytime soon. But in the world of modern college football, you can never say never.