Alabama football fans want to know how much is enough. In the current cycle, it has been estimated that a player payroll in the high $30 million range makes a program a top 10 spender. There are no official, public numbers, but Alabama's 2026 football payroll is believed to be in the $35-38 million range.
That number will have to be higher for the 2027 season. Kalen DeBoer recently spoke about NIL funds: "We've got to continue and grow ... I think more and more people do understand that you can have an awesome staff, but you got to have the NIL support to be able to get the players because they're the ones that make the plays on Saturdays."
How rapidly are college football payrolls growing? In May, I wrote that by next season Alabama Football would be competing against programs with $50 million player payrolls. I was wrong. It is happening now. Multiple schools, one of which is LSU, are rumored to be spending $50 million (or more) in the 2026 cycle. And the price of poker is going up for 2027. Pete Nakos recently tweeted an anonymous college football GM quote about payments for recruits: "It feels like $350K was the starting price for a low four-star this year. ... There are no layups anymore in high school recruiting."
Alabama Football Player NIL Estimates
According to The NIL Standard, the top 75 players on the Crimson Tide roster have NIL values from $28,000 to $2.16 million. The estimated total NIL value is $29.9M. These are values, not payouts, and they do not include revenue sharing. It is projected that over $17 million of the almost $30 million will go to Alabama starters.
For comparison, the calculated NIL value of the top 75 Ole Miss players is $32.7 million. If Ole Miss is at that number, it is likely that Alabama trails not just the Rebels but Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, and possibly Georgia. If so, it begs the question of whether Alabama is really in the top 10 of player payrolls. And if Alabama is not, does the gap create a ceiling on the Crimson Tide's potential success? A ceiling that does not include championships, perhaps?
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