In the modern-era of college football, athletes have the opportunity to make millions before playing a professional snap. The reality? Many of these players have the opportunity to make more at their school then what they would on a rookie contract. In some cases, athletes have taken to the courts regarding additional collegiate eligibility. David Ubben of The Athletic dove into numerous examples of players taking a 'pay cut,' to play professionally.

The story mentioned many notable names who played collegiately recently.

In many ways, the quarterback position sees the greatest disparity in NIL opportunities vs. rookie contracts. As Ubben mentioned in the article, Carson Beck is a prime example. The Jacksonville-native just played his fifth collee season with Miami after previously spending four years with Georgia. When he joined the Hurricanes from the transfer portal in January of 2025, he agreed to a deal that would compensate him north of $3 million annually, according to Ubben. Now Beck, a projected mid-round pick, could end up signing a rookie contract that carries an annual value of less than half of what he made in his year in Coral Gables.

There was one name that Ubben mentioned that sticks out in Indiana: Riley Leonard. The Colts' backup quarterback called reported NIL numbers of $1.5 million to be "overshooting it a little bit" in his final year of college at Notre Dame. He spent his first three years of college at Duke; Leonard noted that he made "more than 10 times" with the Irish then the year prior in Durham

The Indianapolis Colts selected Leonard with the 189th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. His rookie contract that he signed with Indianapolis is worth $4.4 million over four years. However, Leonard noted, “Only like $200,000 of my contract is guaranteed. You have to make the team every year for four years straight to earn it all."

With the landscape of college athletics changing often, players are now making as much money as ever in NIL. For the average NFL draft pick, it might just be more financially rewarding to postpone their professional dreams to play one more season collegiately.

See the full story from The Athletic here: For some NFL Draft prospects, joining the league now means a pay cut from college football

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Riley Leonard made more money at Notre Dame than he did as Colts' backup QB