NIL drama intensifies with Gators losing ground on five-star target

A couple of weeks ago, insiders projected that Trenton Henderson, a five-star EDGE (based on 247's rating) from Pensacola, was going to land with the Florida Gators. Well, those same insiders are now projecting Henderson is going to land with LSU, and NIL money seems to be at the center of what could sway Henderson.

Nothing is official until it is official, but fans on social media have expressed their frustrations, as there appears to be a disconnect between what Florida thinks it is in the NIL market and what it actually is.

Florida Gators need to show the money to land elite talent

Whenever the topic of NIL comes up with the Gators, the common retort is that Florida does have money to spend, and fans need to recognize how that money has attracted talent to campus.

Players like DJ Lagway, Dallas Wilson, Caleb Banks, Tyreak Sapp, and LJ McCray don't come cheap in the modern era, and when you choose to pay those guys, it means that you sometimes have to cut bait with a guy like Jack Pyburn when he too wants a raise.

It also means that, depending on how Florida allocates its money for the class of 2026, it may have felt it would have had to overextend its budget to land Henderson.

But the problem is that time and time again when the dust finally settles, Florida has its share of elite talent but it keeps coming up short compared to the big boys of the SEC.

Last year, Florida made a huge surge at the end and finished 7th in recruiting in the 247 rankings. They also finished with fewer blue-chip prospects (composite five or four stars) than Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Auburn, Texas A&M, LSU, and Penn State.

That pattern seems to be repeating itself this year, and while the Gators have shot up the rankings, they are still way behind in elite talent compared to the teams who ultimately stand in their way if the goal is to win another national title.

This brings us back to why there's such a disconnect between how much Florida thinks it's spending on NIL and how much it's actually spending compared to the big boys.

When Florida opted to retain Billy Napier rather than fire him and pay his buyout, the Gators made sure to let the media know how aggressively they would be pursuing the transfer portal market due to the money they saved.

That never happened, and while some of that money was used to retain players it would have otherwise had to pay for elsewhere, Florida either doesn't have the funds to land multiple five-star players or would rather spend the money on renovating the skyboxes in The Swamp.

And if you don't have the money, then you don't have the money. But every time the topic of NIL comes up, Billy Napier and Scott Stricklin try to claim that Florida is as competitive as anyone in the NIL space.

If Trenton Henderson goes to LSU, then no, you're not.

Because if you want him, go get him.

Until then, talk is cheap.