Ty Simpson said he turned down some massive NIL offers from other schools to transfer instead of declare for the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Alabama quarterback declared for the draft a week after the Crimson Tide were eliminated from the College Football Playoff. He told On3 in a story published Tuesday night that Ole Miss, LSU, Miami and Tennessee were among the schools who inquired about a potential transfer over the weekend. And Miami was apparently prepared to offer significantly more money than even LSU and Tennessee.
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But Simpson stuck with his decision to head to the NFL.
From On3:
Simpson said the offers were pouring into his agent. Miami and Tennessee both said they would pay him $4 million. Ole Miss also jumped in around the $4 million mark, and Tennessee said it could possibly go as high as $5 million. Eventually, Miami ran the tab up to $6.5 million.
“Miami was kind of like, ‘All right, we’re moving on,’ and then they lost out on Sam Leavitt and came back with that big number,” Simpson said. “And then Ole Miss called again and said they could match it.”
To put those offers to Simpson into context, the biggest known NIL deal a transfer QB has signed this offseason is Brendan Sorsby’s $5 million deal with Texas Tech.
Simpson said he ultimately didn’t want to be a guy who stayed in college because he received a huge NIL payment to change teams.
“ [Coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb] have been so good to me,” Simpson said. “I’m sure they were wondering what was going on because they wanted a decision from me last Thursday so they could start building their roster for next year. I was honest and told them what I’d been offered, but that I just couldn’t do it because of everything I stood for and what Alabama had meant to me and the legacy that I built there. Everybody would just remember me as the guy who took all this money and went to Miami or Tennessee for his last year. But I was a captain. I put my hand and footprints in the cement at Denny Chimes.
“I would have lost everything that I built at Alabama.”
A year ago, Miami’s NIL deal with Carson Beck was worth a reported $4 million and the biggest of the transfer cycle. That’s worked out pretty well. Even as Beck was recovering from elbow surgery this offseason, he’s helped lead the Hurricanes to the national championship game against Indiana on Monday night.
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Simpson started just one season at Alabama after backing up Jalen Milroe and Bryce Young. The fourth-year junior was 305-of-473 for 3,567 yards and 28 TDs and five interceptions in 2025. He could end up being a first-round pick in the upcoming draft, especially if Oregon’s Dante Moore decides to return to school for another season.
LSU, meanwhile, signed Leavitt, a former Arizona State QB, via the transfer portal on Monday. However, the other three schools are still currently facing uncertain quarterback situations for 2026.
Ole Miss is hoping for a sixth season of eligibility for starter Trinidad Chambliss as Week 1 starter Austin Simmons has already transferred to Missouri. The NCAA has denied Chambliss’ waiver efforts for an extra season, and Chambliss is pursuing legal action. Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar is also looking for a waiver for a seventh year of college football after he spent time at a junior college, but his waiver effort also seems unlikely to succeed. Beck is out of eligibility after the national title game.
None of the three teams have added a starting-caliber QB in the transfer portal. And, barring a surprise addition to the portal before it closes on Jan. 16 or successful efforts against the NCAA, all three could enter the 2026 season with significant questions at quarterback.
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