Will the NIL eventually water down the NFL

[andrew_nyGiants]

I read an article covering Nick Saban's disdain for the NIL and it got me thinking.

We are increasingly dealing with movement in the NFL....now, by the time many of these players come out of college they have already moved around to 2-3 teams.

Will this adversely affect the next collective bargaining agreement?

How will this impact rookies coming into the league? Are future drafts threatened?

I am a bit old school and it's colored my belief system that the '80's and beginning of the '90's showcased the highest quality football of my lifetime (I'm a chipper 62 yrs young).

Therefore I believe that the quality of the game has already diminished. Will the NIL take the next step in the devolution?

What say you?


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[Jclayton92]

It already has, it's why more and more players are 25 when they enter the league and why the draft has zero depth beyond the 3rd round.

[madbadger]

There's a bubble right now that has to work its way through the system. Guys who would have headed to the NFL with a year or two of eligibility now have a financial reason to stick around but at the end of the day they have five years to play four and the only guys who get a 6th year is a guy with two significant injuries which makes their draft value next to nil. Three years from now it will be business as usual and I can't see it affecting the next collective bargaining as college players don't get a say in it and NFL vets aren't going to go to war for someone who isn't a dues paying member of the union.

[Philosophers]

I remember reading that Marvin Harrison Jr said he had considered staying for another year to try to win a national championship.  A reason he cited was that his NIL money was pretty good.

[TDToomer]

I remember reading that Marvin Harrison Jr said he had considered staying for another year to try to win a national championship.  A reason he cited was that his NIL money was pretty good.

Well his dad made $67 million during his NFL career so I don't really understand why he even needs NIL money. Daddy's money had something to do with Peyton and Eli staying 4 years of college.

[Philosophers]

Well his dad made $67 million during his NFL career so I don't really understand why he even needs NIL money. Daddy's money had something to do with Peyton and Eli staying 4 years of college.

Doubt it.  Archie made $2 million in his career.

[TDToomer]

Doubt it.  Archie made $2 million in his career.

Regardless they didn't struggle with money growing up and didn't have to leave college early to take care of their families like other athletes who do not come from privilege. Didn't Archie going into local Broadcasting in New Orleans after retiring?

[uconnjack8]

I don't think the NIL money will water down the NFL.  I think guys staying in college isn't a bad thing for NFL. 

What I think hurts is the style of play in college. For example, very few college offenses ask the OL to block they way they need to in the NFL.

I also think the collective bargaining agreement limiting practice in pads has hurt.

But I don't see how players getting some money in college affects their play in the NFL.   

[coggs]

Saban is just being pissy because he is not going to be able to deal with players who are actual making money for themselves and not just stuffing his pockets. 

[Jclayton92]

Saban retired.

[nb587]

I think a few college football issues might affect the NFL and not just NIL.  With the big tv money going to the colleges, I think the NCAA will be lucky to be in existence in a few years. The big time colleges will create a super conference and I can see them not taking a back seat to the NFL on scheduling and other matters. They may want to be a feeder league to the pros; they may end up forcing the league to pay way more for the kids to go pro (as if the colleges are not pros now).  Also, there was a recent ruling that allows college athletes to unionize.  That will become a big deal

[coggs]

Saban retired.

i am aware and I think the NIL is a big reason why.

[zephirus]

You guys should really go read what Nick Saban said.  Because he has said he's not adverse to players making money or being part of some revenue sharing agreement.  Nick Saban has always said his goal with "The Process" was to develop players & people to be better.  Players are no longer interested in development, or if they are, it's taking a back seat to money. 
---
Saban told a story about a recruiting breakfast hosted at his home that ended with his wife, Terry, questioning why they were still doing this.

"She said, 'All they care about is how much you're gonna pay them, they don't care about how much you're gonna develop them, which is what we've always done, so why are we doing this?'" Saban explained.

"If we had some sort of revenue sharing proposition that did not make student-athletes employees ... I think that may be the long-term solution," Saban said. "You could create a better quality of life for student-athletes, you could still emphasize development, you can still create brand and athletic development with a system like that and it would be equal in all institutions. You couldn't raise more money at one school to create a competitive advantage at another."
---

It's not unfathomable that talented 18 year olds or eligible transfer students want to make money.  It's that they're potentially trading their development as a player for the "here and now" cash they can get. It's definitely to the detriment of "team sport" but it's totally within reason of capitalism and free market.  There will definitely be a drop off in the polish that players entering the NFL have, because there's high potential that they followed the money rather than putting themselves in a program (like Alabama) where they are developed into quality players, but potentially have to wait 2-3 years before seeing the field.

As for the NFL - it won't impact the NFL in the slightest.  It was already a free market here for the past 30 years.  It just means the quality of player entering the NFL is lower.

[uconnjack8]

I think a lot of the "polish" dropped when it became a regular thing for underclassmen to go into the draft.  Not sure what year that started happening, but once upon a time a 5th year senior wasn't downgraded on draft boards like tends to happen (at least on this forum) now.

I do think the way the transfer portal works and the availability to switch programs has some adverse affects in terms of developing in a program.  On the other hand, I think there is also a positive for the players in experiencing learning a new system.  In the NFL systems change all of the time and players are expected to adapt quickly.  So perhaps a little experience with that can help in the future.  Prior to that portal players could be trapped when their coach left and a new program was established, so that didn't help them either. In the big conferences, those firings and hirings are common place if expectations are not met or exceeded.

Guys chasing money may hurt some real prospects, but the overwhelming majority of these players are not going to the NFL.  As for Saban, he seems to have aged out like BB in terms of his process not translating to the modern environment.  I am sure he does not like the fact that top recruits aren't falling all over themselves to get into his program like they were a decade ago.  And lets be real, SEC alums were finding ways to get players money (whether Saban knew about it or wants to play dumb) to help recruit them prior to NIL. 


As long as the NFL doesn't expand beyond 32 teams the talent level will be the same.  If the players aren't as polished, its likely we will see more low round and UDFAs become relevant as they develop on practice squads and other places.  Given the league is about 33% UDFAs, I don't know if we will see a big difference.

[TDToomer]

I think a few college football issues might affect the NFL and not just NIL.  With the big tv money going to the colleges, I think the NCAA will be lucky to be in existence in a few years. The big time colleges will create a super conference and I can see them not taking a back seat to the NFL on scheduling and other matters. They may want to be a feeder league to the pros; they may end up forcing the league to pay way more for the kids to go pro (as if the colleges are not pros now).  Also, there was a recent ruling that allows college athletes to unionize.  That will become a big deal

By what you are describing it sounds like this plan moves the "colleges" further and further away from being a place of learning and more of a minor league pro system. So why still call the teams in this conference College Football?