Most Georgia football fans would assume that UGA had to pay a pretty penny to land five-star quarterback Jared Curtis last week, but that wasn't actually the case. Many reports circulated stating that Curtis will make less than $1 million as a freshman at Georgia, which is very low for a quarterback of his ability.
But this decision was made on purpose for a few reasons. The first and most obvous reason is because Curtis likely won't be the starter or even play during his true freshman season in 2026. So why should he get paid a premium when he isn't even going to be on the field?
For most other schools in the country, that idea still hasn't prevented them from paying quarterbacks millions of dollars during their freshman seasons, but it clearly didn't scare Curtis away from Georgia. And the reason it didn't push him somewhere else is because of an interesting NIL clause that could go into place heading into the 2028 season.
Jared Cutis can negotiate a new NIL deal if he becomes the starter
According to Maddy Hudak with si.com, Curtis will make between $600k and $800k during his freshman season in 2026. From there he will receive a raise and make between $1.2 and $1.4 million in 2027. This raise coincides with the potential of him becoming the starter for Georgia for the first time, so it makes sense that he would get this increase.
Heading into the 2028 season however is where things will reportedly get interesting, because there is not a set amount he will make from Georgia duing his third year in Athens. Both Georgia and Curtis's camp have agreed to renogotiate his NIL deal before this season based on how he has performed in college. If he is the starter and playing well then he will become one of the highest earning quarterbacks in college football. But if he hasn't become the starter yet then his deal likely won't increase much.
This is a very unique strategy because most players want to make as much money as possible no matter what their performance looks like, but that isn't what Curtis wants to do. Curtis wants to be rewarded if he plays well, and Georgia and Kirby Smart are more than happy to work things out with him this way.
So in a day and age where players will jump ship and transfer to another school whenever adversity hits, this unique NIL clause seemingly should keep Curtis in Athens throughout his entire career.