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Florida Football: Gator booster gives clarity to Rashad’s NIL deal

By Benjamin Henderson

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 12: Florida Gators commit Jaden Rashada looks on during the second half of a game between the Florida Gators and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 12: Florida Gators commit Jaden Rashada looks on during the second half of a game between the Florida Gators and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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At this point it has been widely reported that Jaden Rashada was originally offered $13 million to come be a member of Florida football. The number is so high and out of line with what any other top recruit is being paid that it raises serious questions on whether or not the Gator Collective understood the market when negotiating with Rashada.

Well hidden in the depths of Twitter is a booster for Florida football that seems to give clarity on how exactly the $13 million came to be the number that everyone is throwing around.

Florida Football: LifeWallet had Gators on lock

When Rashada announced his commitment to Miami, the rumor going around was that he left money on the table the Gators were offering. After watching the dumpster fire of Miami’s season, Rashada changed his mind and flipped to Florida.

California law allows high school students to sign NIL deals, and if Rashada had in fact signed on the dotted line with John Ruiz and his LifeWallet conglomerate, it may have been impossible for him to get out of it.

Florida booster Hal Lewis took to Twitter to explain.

So in reality, according to Lewis, Florida offered Rashada seven million dollars and the extra six million was for insurance in case Ruiz wanted to play hardball and sue. It wouldn’t be the first time Ruiz has done that. This paints the Gator Collective in a better light and they at least have some conception of market value, but it also raises the question of if they were aware when they had Rashada commit that they could be on the hook for the $6 million he had at Miami.

Because even if the $13 million wasn’t all going to Rashada, the Gator Collective still needed $13 million to go to someone. It’s understandable that they didn’t want to pay that amount and according to The Athletic, Rashada was sent a letter of termination for the contract on December 7.  

But, if one were to follow the tea leaves, something else happened for Florida football on December 7.

So was the deal breaker that Florida boosters didn’t have $13 million or was the deal breaker that they didn’t want to pay for Rashada and then have to also come up with the money for DJ Lagway?

More than likely the latter, but surely they had to know that signing Lagway or another elite QB was a possibility for 2024.

Either way, it has been an ugly two weeks for Florida football. They went all in on Rashada and got burned and it could set the program back for another season. Lagway recently said he has no intention to reclassify for 2023.

As the national spotlight intensifies on Florida, more nuggets of info will come out to paint a clearer picture. Until then, we still have layers of this saga to untangle.

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