Even though it has been a week since five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell announced his commitment to Miami (FL), the discourse surrounding this decision has not slowed down.
Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart was one of the first people to indirectly comment on Cantwell's decision, saying that he would never pay an incoming freshman more than his seniors. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal seemingly had a response to this comment from Smart where he claimed Cantwell's decision had nothing to do with NIL.
While that is something Cristobal obviously has to say, it does not mean it is true. Cantwell reportedly will be making $5 million at Miami over his first two seasons with the Hurricanes, which was a substantial increase from what was originally reported. So there is no chance this didn't impact his decision, and there's nothing wrong with admitting that it did.
College football fans and experts will likely continue talking about this decision and NIL as a whole all offseason, and that includes former Georgia legend David Pollack who shared his thoughts on Cantwell's NIL deal.
"I'm not spending $2 million on an offensive lineman."
David Pollack does not agree with Jackson Cantwell's NIL deal
Before people claim that Pollack is only saying this because he is biased, it is worth noting that Georgia offered Cantwell around $2 million as well, so this statment has nothing to do with Pollack potentially being upset Cantwell didn't go to Georgia.
Regardless, there is a lot of truth to this statement for one big reason, offensive linemen hardly ever play as true freshman. Offensive linemen arguably have the most difficult jump to make from high school to college football, and that is the case with the best of the best prospects like Cantwell. So in all honesty, there is a great chance that Cantwell won't see the field as a true freshman during the 2026 season.
But that doesn't matter when it comes to his NIL deal, because Miami will still be paying him $2.5 million whether he is playing on the field or riding the bench. Some would argue this is the price teams have to pay to get a recruit of Cantwell's stature, but from Georgia's perspective they don't need to do that.
Georgia has been able to sign top two recruiting classes year after year while getting these recruits to come to Athens at a discount, so if Cantwell wants to get as much money as he can right now then more power to him.
Time will tell if this was a good investment for Miami or not, but there is a chance that this money ends up being a waste.