23-YEAR-OLD Quarterback Reveals How Much Teams Will Pay Him For SEVENTH Year Of College Football

TJ Finley recently entered the transfer portal with hopes to play his seventh season of college football on his seventh different team. The 23-year-old quarterback thinks it would be crazy not to try.

He laughs in the face of his haters when they tell him to get on LinkedIn and enter the workforce.

Why would he get a real job when he can still get paid to play college football through NIL? Don’t give up.

TJ Finley will be a 24-year-old seventh-year senior.

As a native of Louisiana, Finley started his career at LSU as a three-star prospect in the recruiting Class of 2020. He arrived to campus in January of that year.

It is now (almost) January of 2026.

The 6-foot-7, 255-pound signal-caller spent only one season in Baton Rouge before he hit the transfer portal. That led him to Auburn, which led him to Texas State, which led him to Western Kentucky, which led him to Tulane, which led him to Georgia State, which led him to present day.

A full timeline of career breaks down as follows:

• LSU, 2020:
  • Two wins, three losses
  • 80 completions
  • 941 yards
  • Five touchdowns
  • Five interceptions
• Auburn, 2021:
  • Zero wins, three losses
  • 70 completions
  • 827 yards
  • Six touchdowns
  • One interception
• Auburn, 2022:
  • Two wins, one loss
  • 33 completions
  • 431 yards
  • One touchdown
  • Four interceptions
• Texas State, 2023:
  • Eight wins, five losses
  • 279 completions
  • 3,439 yards
  • 24 touchdowns
  • Eight interceptions
• Western Kentucky, 2024:
  • Two wins, one loss
  • 48 completions
  • 491 yards
  • One touchdown
  • Two interceptions
• Tulane, spring 2025:
  • N/A
• Georgia State, fall 2025:
  • One win, five losses
  • 127 completions
  • 1,244 yards
  • Six touchdowns
  • Seven interceptions

It has been quite the journey. Finley ultimately received his degree from Auburn in the summer of 2023. He has played for four different schools since— soon to be five. Maybe.

Get a real job or play college football?

TJ Finley recently filed for a waiver to play another season of college football. The 23-year-old also announced his decision to re-enter the transfer portal.

He is choosing to leave Georgia State because the offensive system was not a good fit and hopes to find one last team with a pass-heavy offense before he pursues a career in the NFL.

Should Finley receive another year of eligibility, it would stem from an ankle injury at Western Kentucky. His first two years did not count because he took a redshirt after the pandemic. A medical redshirt would allow him to play another season after he tore every ligament in his right ankle and suffered a fractured fibula during his third game with the Hilltoppers. That would be seven.

The haters beg him to get a real job because he is never going pro. Finley thinks that is ridiculous.

He is getting paid an annual six-figure salary to play college football. He can support his three young sons without giving up on his dream of playing in the NFL!

There are college football programs that reached out to him as suitors. It’s not like he is shopping himself.

“For me to give [my kids] the lifestyle that I want to give them, I think I have to just really take a risk,” Finley told NOLA.com. “Take a risk going to a place that might not be so close, but it’s a perfect opportunity for me to go and toss the pigskin around and be the guy for a while. That’s where my mindset is now, and any and every opportunity that opens the door, I’m taking very seriously.”

The opportunities to continue his career already exist. Why not take them?