Georgia football had their biggest recruiting loss of the year on Tuesday when five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell chose Miami (FL) over the Bulldogs. Most thought UGA was the leader in this recruitment heading into Tuesday, but that obviously changed in a hurry as he ended up picking the Hurricanes in the end.
There’s no denying that missing on Cantwell is bad for Georgia, but it isn’t the end of the world either. And one of the biggest reasons why it isn’t so bad for Georgia is because of the extra NIL money they can now spend elsewhere.
Georgia can use NIL funds devoted to Jackson Cantwell elsewhere
About a week ago it was rumored that Miami was offering Cantwell upwards of $2 million to come to Miami for his freshman season alone. That number was reported to have increased in the final hours of his recruitment, but other reports circulated that Georgia was in the $2 million range for Cantwell as well.
But now that Cantwell chose Miami, the Bulldogs don't need to devote any resources to him, so this can drastically help their recruitment of other players since they can spend more money on them. This idea was floated around by a Georgia football fan on social media, and their idea is brilliant.
This post specifically mentions tight end Mark Bowman and linebacker Tyler Atkinson who are both the No. 1 prospect at their position in the 2026 class. The good news for Georgia is that they may already be the leader for both recruits, but increasing their NIL package using these funds that were being saved for Cantwell would improve their standing with both players.
But even if Georgia doesn’t want to spend more money on these two, they do have about $2 million more they can spend wherever they like. So even though landing Cantwell would have been the best outcome, they can now use all this extra money to improve their recruiting class elsewhere.