Miami was willing and able to offer significant compensation to land the nation’s top transfer.
Georgia transfer quarterback Carson Beck is expected to receive an NIL package that pays him $4 million in 2025, sources told CBS Sports, a massive sum but one that is still less than an initial asking price industry sources believe would have shattered the highest paid NIL deal in college football history. Beck, who went 24-3 in two years as the Bulldogs’ starter, is the No. 1 ranked player in 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings.
Beck’s deal with Miami puts him in line with the highest-paid college football players in the country. CBS Sports previously reported Tulane transfer quarterback Darian Mensah received what was believed to be a groundbreaking two-year, $8 million deal with Duke.
Dan Everett, co-founder of Everett Sports Management which represents Beck, declined to discuss specific compensation but sent along the following statement to CBS Sports.
“Miami is a terrific market and we are pumped for Carson to become a Cane! As one of the premier faces of college football NIL, we expect his brand portfolio to continue expanding with premium and national brands. Carson will prioritize teammate inclusive partnerships that include charitable components.”
ESM has previously negotiated NIL deals with Beats by Dre and Airstar Charter for Beck.
After the success this past season with quarterback Cam Ward, who was believed to be the highest-paid transfer quarterback in the 2024 transfer cycle, Miami wanted to replicate the experience with another established quarterback. Miami made a hard run at Washington State transfer John Mateer, offering more than $3 million, according to sources, before he decided to reunite with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle at Oklahoma. From the onset of NIL becoming legalized in 2021, Miami supporters have been among the most aggressive in the country in trying to secure top talent for the ACC school.
People around the Miami program would have been interested in Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and USC quarterback Jayden Maiava, among others, according to sources, but neither player entered the transfer portal. Ewers told ESPN in a pre-taped interview on Friday that he did not anticipate playing college football in 2025.
Miami ultimately zeroed in on Beck, who stiff-armed the NFL Draft and committed to Miami less than 24 hours after appearing in the transfer portal with a do-not-contact tag. There were no other serious suitors involved in the recruitment, per sources.
Like Ward a year earlier, Miami convinced Beck to eschew the NFL to come to Coral Gables instead. Beck entered the season considered as a likely first-round pick but an up-and-down year, which included a SEC-high 12 interceptions, and a season-ending elbow injury that required surgery put a damper on his draft stock. Before Beck’s decision to return in 2025, CBSSports.com ranked Beck as its No. 55 overall prospect for the 2025 NFL Draft which would put him in danger of slipping into Round 3. In fact, multiple NFL scouting sources told CBSSports.com’s Matt Zenitz that Beck wasn’t a lock to go in the first three rounds even before he suffered a UCL injury in the SEC Championship game. One NFL scout called Beck’s decision to return for another season in college football a “no brainer.”
Beck stands to make far more in college football next season than he would have in the NFL if those projections held up. Will Levis, a 2023 second round pick, makes an average salary of $2.35 million a year. Hendon Hooker, a 2023 third round pick, earns an average of $1.43 million a season. There were no quarterbacks picked on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
How is it possible for a college QB to make more than highly-drafted NFL ones? For this cycle, players like Beck are benefitting from a convergence of existing NIL money with incoming expected revenue share money that would allow schools to directly pay athletes $20.5 million annually. Schools are expected to devote approximately $12-15 million to their football programs starting in July 2025 if the House settlement is formally approved in April. It has led to a major influx of money that has skyrocketed salaries for everyone like highly-desired quarterbacks such as Beck to placekickers who can now command six-figures.
“I believe that contracts being signed this transfer portal season are double that of a year ago across the board,” Blake Lawrence, Opendorse president of collegiate operations, told CBS Sports. “Now there are some programs that a year ago were already twice their peers in terms of spending, and maybe those markets are more normal like they’re not doubling. But certainly a trend is that the commitments being made right now to the portal athletes are coming with this understanding that the dollars will be paid and fulfilled by the institution, and there’s a lot more control over those dollars and a lot more confidence that they will be available.”
Ward is now expected to be one of the first quarterbacks drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft after a standout 2025 season. Ward, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, threw for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns in his lone season with the Hurricanes.
Caleb Williams, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, makes an average of $9.88 million a season, including bonuses. Ward, by returning to school, greatly increased both his collegiate and NFL earnings. Beck hopes he can take a similar path in Coral Gables.
MORE: Quiet tension underlined Beck’s final few weeks as Georgia Bulldog
