3 different potential NIL deal scenarios for Michigan athletics

Rolling NIL deal

This NIL deal might be the best possible scenario for Michigan football, as it would allow Michigan (meaning outside parties) to control the amount of money that a recruit can receive at any point in time.

With this scenario, the NIL deal money would be given to athletes pretty much like a payment plan scenario. Each month (or day, week, whatever the payment plan option entails), the athlete would receive a set amount of money.

So, instead of the recruit receiving a gargantuan amount of money all at one time, this really limits how much money the recruit would make all at once, and the total amount of the NIL deal could be restricted as well. This allows for flexibility in the sense that, at any time, Michigan would be able to reduce the NIL deal or increase the NIL.

This entire NIL deal would be performance-based, kind of like a total salary, with a base amount of money that the athlete would be guaranteed (which is kind of low) but with the potential for a lot more based on positive academic results, All-Big Ten awards and accolades, class standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, etc.) positive reviews from the coaches, positive reviews from peers, being a total menace in practice, learning a lot and understanding in the film room, and obviously, the on-field performance, which would garner the most potential increase in NIL money.

With this deal, Michigan can pull all the strings, as better performances on gamedays/practices result in more money, off-field issues and/or subpar academics result in less money, and a base amount of money is already set (so no exorbitant NIL deals right away), and everyone is happy.

And oh, by the way, the better the recruit, the better the base salary, so if there are concerns about everybody making the same amount (like the #1 recruit in the country making the same amount as the #500 recruit in the country) this could eliminate that, as consensus ranking, and other factors could contribute to the amount of money the recruit receives.

Lastly, this would not restrict any recruits from getting any other NIL deals, it would just pretty much make that recruit earn their NIL money, as the recruit would still need to work hard to get more money. It is called a “rolling” NIL deal because it can change at any time based on the criteria mentioned above.