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Ashton Jeanty has already had to pay the price that comes with being a superstar player in college who is now in the NFL

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Justin Churchill | Last updated May 29, 2025 6:25 PM ET

When you're a superstar in college football and you make your way to the NFL, specifically like Las Vegas Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty has done, there is a price to pay sometimes, and it isn't pretty.

For Jeanty, he has been a superstar player at the college level for the last two years, where this last year he nearly broke Barry Sanders' records. This allowed him to build up his brand in a huge way and nearly won the Heisman Trophy award, which was given to the best player in college football that season. He barely lost out to now Jacksonville Jaguars DB/WR Travis Hunter.

Creating a brand for yourself means that it may be in your best interest to do the things that make you most recognizable. So, getting to the NFL, you may oftentimes want to wear the same number that fans and media associated you with when you were in college. Jeanty was No. 2 at Boise State, and part of his brand is "Deuce," or two.

But kicker Daniel Carlson had No. 2 already locked down. So, if Jeanty wanted the number, he was going to have to pay the price.

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"That deuce [Jersey No. 2] man! I didn't get this for free. I had to drop a little bag. I can't put that [amount spent] out... So I called him [Daniel Carlson] and told him I need the number two, and I'm willing to negotiate. I gave him what I was thinking first, and he came back, and I was like, hey man, I have to do it," Jeanty said to Kay Adams.

"I have to drop a bag for No. 2... You could probably buy a house, like a nice-sized house. Actually, I won't say a house, you could probably buy like a Mercedes GLE. He saw that signing bonus. But, he was cool about it, the good thing as well is, some of the money is going to be given to charity as well."

"You could probably buy a house”…

Ashton Jeanty on what it cost to get that #2 jersey from Daniel Carlson

@AshtonJeanty2 #raiders #raidernation @PaniniAmerica pic.twitter.com/P2uvl1LfvC
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) May 20, 2025

For a rookie, that may seem like he spent a lot of money, and don't get me wrong, that is a lot of money. However, if you have seen his rookie contract, you would quickly realize that it's not that much money for him. Jeanty got $22 million guaranteed at signing, and then a $35 million guaranteed total. So, whatever he spent, it surely wasn't that much for him.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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