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NFL Rookie Quarterback Strikes Lucrative Deal After Missing Out on NIL Payday

Originally posted on NIL on SI | By Maddy Hudak | Last updated May 18, 2025 3:21 PM ET

College football has reached a bizarre state of the sport where, for quarterbacks in particular, the NFL offers less of a payout than staying in school if they don't get selected in the first round.

This offseason, star quarterbacks Darian Mensah and Carson Beck reportedly received around $3–4 million to transfer to the Duke Blue Devils and Miami Hurricanes, respectively.

The Hurricanes were considered a prime landing spot for former Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers, and he was said to have turned down a $4 million deal when he elected to enter the NFL draft.

Criticism of that decision skyrocketed when Ewers fell to the seventh round, where he was eventually selected No. 231 overall by the Miami Dolphins.

It seems Ewers has found a way to compensate for those lost earnings in an endorsement deal, though.

Dolphins Rookie Quinn Ewers Inks Million-Dollar Endorsement Deal

On Friday, Ewers announced that he signed an exclusive autograph trading card deal with Panini, which Mike Florio of NBC Sports reports is worth $3 million.

Excited to announce that I have signed an exclusive autograph trading card deal with @paniniamerica for my NFL trading cards.

Thank you @paniniamerica for helping me tell my story and continuing our relationship! I can’t wait to see my first NFL trading cards! #RatedRookie pic.twitter.com/a8Pr4K3MsH
— Quinn Ewers (@QuinnEwers) May 16, 2025

That bottom line all but adds up to Ewers' four-year contract with Miami, one that will pay out a total of $4.3 million over four years.

Ewers' Year 1 salary with Miami is $84,000, with an additional prorated amount of $32,894 from his $131,576 signing bonus—ultimately not too bad for a seventh-round pick.

When Ewers continued to slide through Day 3 of the NFL draft, the consensus seemed to believe he greatly erred by not sticking in college.

In the absence of his deal with Panini, his earnings certainly took a massive hit.

However, critics seemed to forget about the viability of endorsement deals, as the power of name, image, and likeness doesn't dissipate when a player leaves college for the NFL.

Ewers may have garnered additional partnerships on top of his reported $4 million had he gone to the Hurricanes. He also may have taken a poor snap that ended his NFL hopes entirely.

That $4 million would be enough on its own of career earnings that few outside of college athletes will ever come close to at 22 years old.

Ewers is in the NFL, the real dream for most, and he's almost made back what he lost by deciding to do so.