Tensions are beginning to rise in the recruitment for five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell. Cantwell is the No. 1 overall player in the country with a commitment date of May 13 quickly approaching.
Cantwell has cut his recruitment down to Georgia, Miami (FL), Oregon and Ohio State, and those will be the four schools he decides between on Tuesday. He does have one more visit lined up with Georgia before he announces his commitment which will take place on May 10, but another major development just unfolded surrounding NIL.
A report from On3 was released earlier this week stating that Miami is offering Cantwell upwards of $2 million for his freshman season alone if he chooses the Hurricanes. That number is very realistic for a prospect as good as Cantwell, but it's strange that this report came out a few days before his commitment.
This report upset a lot of people at Miami, so much so that the Hurricanes are claiming Kirby Smart and Georgia leaked this information on purpose.
"On3 put out an article that Miami was the leading NIL bidder for Jackson Cantwell. Make no mistake, this is an intentional leak designed to make it look like if Cantwell choose Miami, he's just chasing the bag," he said. "This is all strategy, the truth is, Georgia is a great program, they have a lot of momentum with Cantwell, they have done good things, offensive line development is not the best."
Georgia blamed for Jackson Cantwell's NIL offer being leaked
Who knows if Georgia leaked Cantwell's NIL offer from Miami or not. There is a very real chance they did, but the reasoning behind Georgia doing so, according to the above post, makes no sense.
This video is claiming Georgia did this because they don't have as much success in recent history at developing offensive lineman like Miami does. However, one quick look at recent NFL Drafts will prove this wrong.
Since 2014, Miami has had just two offensive tackles taken in the NFL Draft. Georgia on the other hand has had seven. So how has Miami developed the position better than Georgia?
In just a few more days the college football world will finally learn where Cantwell will play his college ball. But this little NIL wrinkle, whether Georgia was involved or not, will create a lot more hype as Cantwell's commitment approaches.