Bryce Underwood's NIL details: How much did Michigan pay to lure QB away from LSU?

Bryce Underwood’s NIL details: How much did Michigan pay to lure QB away from LSU? originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood was one of the Wolverines’ biggest recruit signings in the last two seasons. The former five-star quarterback was rated as the No. 1 overall recruit from the class of 2025 and signed with the Wolverines despite being committed to LSU for the majority of his recruitment.

But after Underwood’s shaky performance against Western Michigan last week, fans are questioning whether or not he will live up to the hype surrounding him when he arrived. It also has some Michigan fans looking back on the massive NIL deal the Wolverines gave the quarterback to sign him.

Here’s a look at Underwood’s deal with Michigan, how much he reportedly is getting paid and more.

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How much is Bryce Underwood getting paid?

According to On3Sports, Underwood’s NIL valuation is $3 million. The outlet describes NIL valuation as the following: 

Today, the On3 NIL Valuation reflects the current player contract value. It is not a projection of an athlete’s marketing value, endorsement potential or what was originally understood as “true NIL.” Instead, it is designed to track athletes’ compensation from colleges/collectives.

As recently as August of 2026, On3’s Pete Nakos described Underwood’s NIL package with Michigan as “one of the most lucrative NIL packages to date for a high school recruit.”

When CBS Sports reported that Underwood had flipped from LSU to Michigan, the NIL deal he signed with the Wolverines was believed closer to $10 million as opposed to the initial reported figure of $5 million. If Underwood is expected to be at Michigan for three seasons, him making $3 million would come out to closer to $10 million than $5. 

But of course, it’s hard to say just how accurate all of these numbers truly are. It might be best to take them all with a grain of salt. 

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Bryce Underwood NIL deal details 

Underwood’s deal with the Wolverines is being funded by Michigan’s NIL collective, named Champions Circle. The group features several big-name Wolverine boosters, including Michigan booster Nate Forbes — managing partner of The Forbes Company — as well as boosters Jolin and Larry Ellison.  Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was also involved in the process. 

Ellison is a billionaire and co-founder of Oracle, and is worth $202.5 billion. According to Forbes, that puts him as the seventh richest man in the world, per the outlet’s Real Time Net Worth metric. Ellison’s wife, Jolin, is a Michigan graduate who also knows Portnoy, a fellow UM graduate. The Barstool personality helped get Underwood to flip his pledge from LSU to Michigan, according to his own admission.

“Everyone’s like ‘Dave, how much were you involved?’ Listen, there are a lot of other factors. … Was I involved in a call with the family? Are they lovely people? Did we pitch a plan? Of course, we did,” Portnoy said in Nov. 2024.

Ahead of the 2026 season, Portnoy even further elaborated on his hand in landing Underwood. 

“Bryce Underwood was the biggest recruit in the offseason,” Portnoy said on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff. “He was signed, sealed, delivered to LSU [and] we stole him. … Changes the entire fortune of Michigan.”

“You gotta remember, last year we couldn’t throw a forward pass. We had no quarterback. We still beat the crap out of Ohio State. We beat the crap out of Alabama.”

“If this guy is even half as good as advertised, Michigan is a threat to the National Title.” @stoolpresidente hypes up @UMichFootball QB Bryce Underwood 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/QV7RytKyMf

— Big Noon Kickoff (@BNKonFOX) August 30, 2025

Bryce Underwood high school recruiting sweepstakes

Underwood was a longtime commit of LSU’s class of 2025 recruiting class for then-Tigers head coach Brian Kelly. He had verbally committed to LSU in January 2024, and stuck with the Tigers for most of his senior year of high school.

But things began to fall apart for Underwood to LSU in November. Just two weeks after taking an official visit to Baton Rouge, he decommitted from the Tigers on Nov. 21. That same day, he flipped to Michigan, and signed with the Wolverines on Dec. 4 during Early Signing Period.    

According to The Advocate, LSU’s NIL deal offer to Underwood was around $1.5 million.

The move appeared to work out well for Michigan during Underwood’s first season. He threw for 2,428 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, including 392 rush yards with six touchdowns. He led the Wolverines to a 9-4 record. 

LSU, meanwhile, finished 7-6, and fired Kelly midseason. 

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Highest paid college football players

These are the estimated top-10 highest-paid players in college football this season, per On3’s NIL valuations:

1. QB Darian Mensah, Miami: $6.5 million

T-2. QB Dante Moore, Oregon: $5 million

T-2. WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State: $5 million

T-2. QB Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss: $5 million

1. QB Sam Leavitt, LSU: $4.5 million

T-6. OT Jordan Seaton, LSU: $4 million

T-6. QB Josh Hoover, Indiana: $4 million

1. QB Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State: $3.5 million

T-9. QB Bryce Underwood, Michigan, $3 million

T-9. QB Byrum Brown, Auburn: $3 million

T-9. QB CJ Carr, Notre Dame: $3 million
T-9. QB Marcel Reed, Texas A&M: $3 million

T-9. QB Kevin Jennings, SMU: $3 million

T-9. WR Cam Coleman, Texas: $3 million

T-.9.  QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Cal: $3 million

T-9.  QB Mason Heintschel, Pitt: $3 million

T-17. QB Arch Manning, Texas, $2.5 million

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