Texas A&M has long been regarded as one of the highest spenders in the sport of college football, whether or not that characterization is actually fair. At least part of that comes from the whirlwind 2022 cycle, where an anonymous message board user named SlicedBread made the now-infamous (and wholly false) claim that the Aggies were spending around $30 million for that year's recruiting class alone.
As fantastical and clearly fabricated as that was, it left a lasting impression in the minds of the college football public that the Aggies were willing to do whatever they needed to do in order to get the players they wanted. Make no mistake: the Aggies are competitive and energized to get this football program to the mountain top, but NIL is not the main strategy they employ.
Of course, with the new revenue-sharing rules now in place, NIL is almost a dated term at this point, but it still sort of stands in as a catch-all for player compensation. In a survey of roster spending around the Power 5, CBS Sports gave a rough tier ranking of the biggest spenders— and the number they came up with for one Aggie player in particular could raise some eyebrows.
CBS Sports reports Texas A&M spending $3 million on Marcel Reed
You can read the entire article here, where the Aggies are slotted at the bottom of the highest tier (around $40 million for their roster), but the author of the article seems pretty skeptical that A&M is actually sitting in that territory. However, there is some mention that "roster incentives" could push the Aggies' cost above that $40 million meridian line.
It's not that shocking to name the Aggies where they did (though $40 million may still be a stretch according to guys like Billy Liucci), but what was surprising was the specific number that was mentioned for Marcel Reed. The Aggie quarterback, according to this article, is set to make around $3 million this season— for comparison, the number that the article mentions that Cam Coleman chose Texas over a $4 million offer from a competitor.
That's still probably more than many Aggie fans would have anticipated Marcel Reed making— but it's fair to ask why that perception might be. Marcel is one of the top-10 returning quarterbacks in the country in ESPN's QBR, and he just captained the Aggies to their most successful season since the days of Johnny Manziel.
There will be hubbub around this number, for sure, but it's hard to actually make the case that Marcel doesn't deserve to make as much as some of the bigger names in the sport. Quarterback is obviously the premium position in football, and Marcel has not only acquitted himself well on the field, he has become the face of the program off of it.
Whether or not this number is accurate, fans shouldn't make the case that Reed is overpaid. Especially when we see what Texas A&M is ready to unleash on the SEC this year, that kind of talk should die down quickly— Reed is no doubt one of the top passers in the conference.
Add us as a preferred source on Google