Alabama Football: Latest Jordan Addison rumors show new norm

In this new free agency era of college football, it has become harder than ever to discern fact from fiction. Another challenge is, even for the Alabama football program, selling potential championships and future NFL earnings is not enough.

Make no mistake, national championship opportunities are still important. So do the NFL payoffs that will come later. NIL, though never intended to be used in the recruitment of players, has quickly become a main deciding factor. The NCAA botched NIL so badly, recruiting and transfer deals for an increasing number of players are not the equivalent of cake icing.

Weeks ago it was believed the Tennessee Vols gained a new quarterback from a multi-year deal that reached $8M. The giddiest fans of the NIL era contend the value of players is and should be based on ‘market value.’ That is true, but so is the reality that market-priced acquisition in college football may not result in a comparable return on investment.

The better way to describe the new environment is the cost of players is set by how much boosters and sponsors are willing to pay.

Which leads us to Jordan Addison. What is the market value of a Biletnikoff winner? If a kid, having never played a down of college football, can get $8M, the best wide receiver in college football must be worth at least half that number.

Though the claim was debunked by a solid source, check out the tweet below.

Giving credence to Matt Jones’ rebuttal is the fact even a non-blue blood football program like Kentucky must know an $800K offer is paltry.

About the supposed, $2M on the table for Addison from USC, more recent rumors have the figure at $3M.

When became known Addison had worked out with Bryce Young in California, pursuit of the WR appeared to be down to USC and Alabama. USC fans quickly became worried they would be out-bid. Many Alabama fans worried Nick Saban would not support a bidding war.

What will Nick Saban and Alabama Football do?

None of us know what Nick Saban thinks about this or what Alabama will and will not do. A strong presumption is Saban only wants players to whom playing for championships and later NFL dollars are as least as important as quick, NIL money.

If it does come down to a bidding war, don’t count out the Texas Longhorns.

A couple of teams (among scores of others) that can be counted out are Georgia and Auburn. Even if both have the financial resources, neither has a gunslinger quarterback. In fact, the only suitor with a Heisman-winning QB is the Alabama Crimson Tide.

What will happen with Jordan Addison? Is any dollar value too high in this unusual period for college football? A head shake is offered rather than answers.