On Thursday Nike announced a new NIL deal for a long list of players. This included a whopping six current members of the Georgia football team along with current five-star UGA tight end commit Jaxon Dollar.
Dollar was one of just 11 high school players to sign with Nike in this new NIL deal, and this news should help Kirby Smart recruit at an even higher rate as he looks to get the Bulldogs back inside the top 10 of the recruiting rankings.
Nike announced on Thursday that it had partnered with six current Georgia standouts and 5-star commit Jaxon Dollar on the NIL front: https://t.co/kLR7nLIDvy
— DawgNation (@DawgNation) July 16, 2026
5-star Jaxon Dollar is Georgia's greatest recruiting pitch right now
Smart has so many different things in his favor when he recruits for Georgia. The fact that no one has won more than him during his 10 years as head coach is the greatest recruiting pitch any coach could hope for, but his success at sending players to the NFL also stands out as well.
But in today's recruiting landscape recruits expect to receive big NIL deals to earn their commitments, and that is something Smart isn't willing to do. Instead he tries to sell recruits on his NIL strategy of paying players who are already at Georgia who earned it.
That is exactly what happened with the six current players who are part of this Nike deal, but Dollar is showing that Georgia commits can make some dough too.
Nike gave Dollar this deal because of his performance at a recent recruiting event, but him being a future Bulldog had to play a big role in their decision too. They wouldn't just hand out a deal to any talented player, if that's all that went into it then more than 11 high school recruits would've received deals.
Nike however chose Dollar because he is a great player and is going to play at Georgia which is one of the biggest brands in all of college football. So if other recruits are watching maybe they'll give Georgia another look after seeing this.
What should fans now expect out of Georgia's 2027 recruiting class?
Georgia's 2027 recruiting class could be Smart's worst of his career. They are still outside the top 10 in the recruiting rankings, and that is something fans probably never expected to see occur under Smart.
A big reason for their struggles is because of Smart's unwillingness to pay for a recruit's commitment. Whether fans like it or not that is what he decided is best for Georgia and it doesn't feel like he's ever going to change.
This new NIL deal for six of Georgia's players and Dollar should catch the attention of recruits though. They will now see right before their eyes how lucrative it can be to play at Georgia, and in some cases they might even get a big NIL deal before even stepping foot on campus.
Will this lead to a better 2027 recruiting class for Georgia? That remains to be seen, but there is a real scenario where this news leads to a lot of top recruits giving Georgia another look with some eventually choosing to play for UGA.
Add us as a preferred source on Google