According to MarketWatch, 49ers All-Pro QB Brock Purdy, the 2022 NFL Draft's Mr. Irrelevant who completed the 2023 regular season leading the league in passer rating, total quarterback rating, and yards gained per attempt, was paid $890K, which placed him 89th among NFL QBs.
Even more surprising? Purdy’s salary pays him less than what 16 college football players made this season, according to On3’s proprietary NIL algorithm, which is based on NIL-deal data, performance, influence and exposure.
- Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado ($4.7M)
- Arch Manning, QB, Texas ($2.8M)
- Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado ($2.3M)
- Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas ($1.7M)
- Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama ($1.5M)
- Evan Stewart, WR, Texas A&M/Oregon ($1.4M)
- Carson Beck, QB, Georgia ($1.4M)
- Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss ($1.3M)
- Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oklahoma/Oregon ($1.2M)
- Nico Iamaleava, QB, Tennessee ($1.2M)
- Shilo Sanders, S, Colorado ($1.1M)
- Brady Cook, QB, Missouri ($1M)
- Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU ($965K)
- Riley Leonard, QB, Duke/Notre Dame ($930K)
- Will Howard, QB, Kansas State/Ohio State ($917K)
- Caleb Downs, S, Alabama/Ohio State ($903K)
- Of the 16, 12 are QBs; of those 12, only Sanders, Gabriel, Leonard and Howard are not on SEC teams. That also means there are 101 quarterbacks making more than Brock Purdy.
- Deion Sanders's sons are making $5.8M between them. That's only $100K less than Colorado is paying Deion. Throw in Travis Hunter and that's $8.1M for three players.
Assuming you trust On3's data (I personally don't--there are a bunch of athetes I would expect to be on this list who are not, e.g., Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Brock Bowers), at least 23 current college athletes made more than Purdy, including LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne, LSU WBB players Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson. Heck, high school junior Bryce James, LeBron's son, made more than Purdy but it's still a pittance compared to his older brother, who's the highest paid non-pro athlete overall.
Brock Purdy is more than Mr. Irrelevant, he's the biggest bargain in sports.
