how much do college football players make

June 27, 2026

Most college football players do not earn a traditional salary, but many now make money through scholarships, NIL (name, image and likeness) deals, and new revenue‑sharing models, with earnings ranging from essentially $0 for some backups to several million dollars per year for a few stars. The huge spread depends on school, position, role on the team, and how marketable the player is in the current NIL and transfer‑portal era.

Basics: How Players Get Paid

College football players are still not “employees” in the standard sense in most setups, so they don’t get a league‑set salary like NFL players.

Instead, their compensation typically comes from:
- Athletic scholarships (tuition, housing, meals, fees).
- NIL deals from brands, collectives, and boosters.
- Direct revenue‑sharing pools that some schools and conferences have begun for football players.

NIL Money: From $0 to Millions

A small group of star players can earn well into seven figures in NIL value; for example, Texas QB Arch Manning has been valued at about $5.3 million in NIL for the 2025–26 season.

Across the sport, college football athletes as a whole were projected to earn roughly $1.9 billion in 2025 when you combine NIL and new revenue‑sharing mechanisms.

Many players, especially reserves or those at smaller programs, may earn little to nothing beyond occasional small local deals, even though a few headline deals grab attention.

Transfer Portal “Price Tags” by Position

A lot of the clearest numbers come from what schools or their collectives are willing to offer players in the transfer portal. These are rough “going rates” for one season at a major program.

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Position</th>
      <th>Typical Range (per year)</th>
      <th>High-End Deals</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Quarterback</td>
      <td>Often well into six figures; many starting‑caliber QBs now expect mid–high six‑figure offers.[web:3][web:9]</td>
      <td>Top QBs and elite transfers can command $1–2M+ per year in some cases.[web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Wide Receiver</td>
      <td>Many starters fall in the low–mid six‑figure range at big programs.[web:3][web:9]</td>
      <td>“High‑end” receivers in recent cycles have pushed into the $300K–$700K and above tier.[web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Running Back / Tight End</td>
      <td>Typical starters often top out around the low–mid six figures (roughly $150K–$250K+ ranges mentioned).[web:3]</td>
      <td>Truly elite skill players can push above those ceilings depending on demand and scheme.[web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Offensive Line</td>
      <td>Interior linemen frequently fall around the low–mid six figures (roughly $200K–$300K as a baseline band).[web:3]</td>
      <td>Top guards or centers in line‑heavy schemes can push toward the $500K–$700K neighborhood.[web:3]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Edge Rusher</td>
      <td>Average edge transfers often land between about $600K–$1M in recent estimates.[web:9]</td>
      <td>Elite “game‑wrecker” edge rushers have been quoted in the $1M–$1.7M range.[web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Cornerback</td>
      <td>Average deals often fall roughly around $400K–$700K depending on the program’s priorities.[web:9]</td>
      <td>High‑end corners can reach $800K to over $1M.[web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Safety</td>
      <td>Many safeties sit in the $350K–$500K “average” band.[web:9]</td>
      <td>Programs that really value the position may pay up to about $700K–$1M for a star.[web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Linebacker</td>
      <td>Starting linebackers in the portal were recently described with starting offers around the low–mid six figures.[web:3]</td>
      <td>Some elite linebackers can push toward the upper six‑figure band, even flirting with $700K in some cases.[web:3]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

These ranges are not official salary bands; they are informal market numbers emerging from collectives, agents, and athletic departments in the NIL and portal era.

Revenue Sharing and Total Market

By 2025, analysts estimated that with revenue sharing layered on top of NIL, college football players collectively could take home close to $2 billion in a single season.

Some frameworks allow schools to distribute up to around $20 million per year per school to their athletes as part of revenue‑sharing pools, with football taking a large share.

Even with that, most of the money still concentrates in:
- Power conference schools.
- Starters and impact players.
- High‑visibility offensive positions like quarterback and wide receiver.

What This Means in Plain Terms

For a typical scholarship player at a mid‑level program, “how much do college football players make?” often means:
- Full scholarship value (which can be worth tens of thousands of dollars per year).
- Maybe a few thousand dollars in small NIL deals or nothing at all.
For high‑end starters at a top‑25 program, it can realistically mean:
- Six‑figure NIL and/or portal‑driven packages.
- A share of school revenue‑sharing funds if their conference and institution are participating.

For a handful of national‑name stars, it now means multi‑million‑dollar annual earnings combining NIL, endorsements, and school‑connected opportunities.

Bottom line: the average college football player is not getting rich, but the top 5–10% at big programs can now earn money at levels that start to look like lower‑tier NFL contracts, all while still officially being college athletes.

Note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.