UW Couch Sales & Purchases (Portal Tracker)
Comments
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33% of all D1 players are in the transfer portal and we have losers crying about a few second stringers leaving
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Again, let me go back to there being 2 ways that players are getting paid (legally) …
1st Way = Athletic Department Direct Revenue Sharing (Think Salary Cap)
- This is a fixed amount with a ceiling
- Think of it like a salary cap
- For the entire Athletic Department that number was $20.5M for the 25-26 academic year
- Football typically gets the largest share with estimates of 70-75% (varies by school)
- Washington has signaled that it's paying at the top end of that range for football
- This is the primary funding path for the balance of the roster that is not receiving substantial NIL deals
2nd Way = Name, Image, Likeness Deals
- Material deals are going to be tied to the handful of "face of the program" type of players
- In theory, NIL deals are supposed to be Fair Market Deals and verified by Deloitte
- A lot of NIL deals are small dollar items tied to things like appearance fees, etc. (think radio interviews, etc.)
- Subject to 3rd parties entering into these relationships
- 3rd parties will "in theory" want to see some kind of ROI on their deals
A lot of the players that we're talking about "leaving" the program are players that are almost assuredly fitting into the 1st method of getting paid (via revenue sharing) …
Think about how most professional teams operating under a salary cap or restrictive structure (think NFL) are constantly evaluating how to best spend their money. If a team has a lot of depth at a certain position they may let a player go because they're going to repurpose the money to cover areas and gaps that they don't have.
The players that I think everybody are most critical of leaving in the portal are the following (no order):
- Henning (competing for 1C but not guaranteed a starting role)
- Paki (likely 3rd in the G rotation going into the year)
- Butler (a definitive part of the DL rotation)
- Mohammed (likely the thunder 1B RB)
- RVB (was WR3 for large stretches of last year)
I'm not going to say I have a clue for what these players were making or would cost in the portal but let's just say hypothetically that it would cost UW $2M to keep these players on the roster for 2026.
Is it better for UW to keep those players or for them to repurpose that money for a difference making EDGE or interior DL that can play a high % of snaps and be a difference maker in the interior?
At some point you have to make trade-offs in the roster with what you control under the revenue sharing component. Of the 5 above players, Butler is the one that I feel is the most critical to keep because whether it's him or not you'll need a comparable player coming in. That said, if someone is willing to give him money that is above/beyond what fits in the budget, then you have to make hard decisions (just like NFL teams do at all times). RVB I don't have any doubt that we'll be able to fill within our roster. Henning/Paki will require either a bit of a backfill in the portal (think lower level costing less $$$) or from a younger OL filling the role. Mohammed will either be filled internally or a 1-year portal player.
This is part of the portal world … it is what it is.
It's not about Washington being poor or not.
It's all about spending the money that it has to spend wisely to build the best possible roster.
And let's be very clear, at this point, almost every roster in the country has some kind of gap in it that can be a big issue if something goes sideways.
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Exactly!
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Last two years the transfer portal has been great for us after DeBoner’s exit because the roster was a disaster from graduations, crappy recruiting the previous couple of years, and kids transferring out to follow DeBoner or get paid their last year.
Now that we have a healthy roster/depth it’s going to be a lot more balanced. Just the way numbers work.
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RVB to ASU… ok?!?
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I thought RVB and Mohammed would both end up there. Dilly lost his best WR to the draft and his top RB transferred. Arizona is home for both kids and ASU runs a slick offense. Dilly loves bell cow backs so AM could potentially get a lot more carries there than splitting reps at UW as Judd likes to do. RVB in a lower conference, in that offense could put up some great numbers. Mohammed seems intent on wanting to play school with Cal and Virginia on his visits, ASU may fall short on his prowess wish list.
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For reference
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Inversely proportional to NIL money. Oregon fucking sucks all the cocks and I hope in the battle of the super nouveau riche vs. Nike nouveau riche Indiana beats their asses again. I would love for Mark Cuban to tell Phil Knight to hold his beer as they hoist the trophy. Broadcast.com > Nike.
