Georgia made a big splash in the Transfer Portal Friday night when they earned a commitment from four-star quarterback Bryson Beaver. He is a member of the 2026 recruiting class, so Beaver filled the only hole remaining in the Bulldogs’s incoming freshman class.
A lot of things had to go Georgia’s way to win this recruitment, and that includes potentially paying a big price to get him to come to Athens.
Kirby Smart, Georgia may have had to pay up to earn latest commitment
On3 ranks Beaver as the No. 244 overall player in the country and one of the top quarterbacks in the 2026 recruiting class. They also give him a $675,000 NIL evaluation which means Georgia may have had to pay up to convince him to come to Athens.
Quarterbacks have quickly become the highest paid players in the NIL era, and that certainly could be true with Beaver. But just because his NIL value is that high on On3 doesn’t mean Georgia actually had to pay that much.
While this is a big commitment for Georgia, they likely didn’t have too much competition. Beaver only spent a few weeks at Oregon as part of their incoming freshman class before changing his mind, packing his bags and heading to Georgia. The Bulldogs were one of the only programs in the country without a QB in the 2026 class, and they were the only realistic option for Beaver to turn to because it wouldn’t make sense to transfer to a school that already has a QB in his class.
Beaver also doesn’t have any college tape yet, and when that’s the case Kirby Smart has made it clear he won’t overspend for a player.
Regardless, Georgia had to pay Beaver something to get him to come to Athens. While On3 thinks they paid him a massive NIL deal, in reality it was probably much less than what they think. Either way this was as big of a commitment as Georgia has received in quite some time, because the Bulldogs’ quarterback depth is finally in a good spot.