Deion Sanders suggests paying players who reach College Football Playoff

At Big 12 Media Days, Deion Sanders called for an NIL and rev-share salary cap. The Colorado coach cited a need for more “equality” in the space and avoid teams trying to gain more of an advantage.

Speaking with the AP this week, Coach Prime floated another idea. He suggested paying players who reach the College Football Playoff – and more if their team wins the national championship.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

During the interview, Sanders lamented hype around NIL deals because “there are only three or four guys. who you might know their NIL,” he said. But with his idea of paying players who make the CFP and win the title, it could help level the playing field a bit.

“[N]ow it’s equality, now it’s even and every player is making the same amount of money,” Sanders told AP’s Eddie Pells of his idea.

Sanders’ proposal has support from Nick Saban, his partner in Aflac’s new commercial who also spoke with AP for the story. The former Alabama head coach, now an analyst for ESPN College GameDay, was in favor of a similar system to the NFL’s playoff bonuses. Philadelphia Eagles players who were part of the Super Bowl-winning team each received $171,000 last year, according to the AP.

Deion Sanders previously called for a ‘cap’

This isn’t the first time Deion Sanders cited the need for equality in the NIL and rev-share space. Last month at Big 12 Media Days, he called for a cap on the amount of dollars players get – similar to the NFL. While schools can directly share up to $20.5 million with athletes following House v. NCAA settlement approval, Sanders said it’s tough to compete with schools who would be willing to, effectively, overpay.

“I wish there was a cap,” Sanders said during a panel with other conference coaches. “Like, the top-of-the-line player makes this and if you’re not that type of guy, you know you’re not going to make that. That’s what the NFL does. The problem is, you’ve got a guy that’s not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him another half a million dollars. You can’t compete with that. It don’t make sense.

“You talk about equality … all you have to do is look at the playoffs and see what those teams spent, and you understand darn near why they’re in the playoffs. It’s kind of hard to compete with somebody who’s giving $25, $30 million to a darn freshman class. It’s crazy.”