Ty Simpson Reveals He Spurned Three Teams' NIL Offers to Declare for Draft

Ty Simpson turned down several lucrative offers from top programs to enter the NFL draft.

Ty Simpson turned down massive NIL offers to head for the NFL draft. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson has declared for the NFL draft after starting one season for the Crimson Tide.

Not only is Simpson declaring for the draft despite having limited experience as a starter in college football, he is also choosing to head to the NFL over receiving a hefty NIL payment with another program.

Simpson told Chris Low of On3 that Miami, Tennessee and Ole Miss were willing to pay him $4 million. Tennessee then was possibly willing to up their offer to $5 million while Miami upped theirs 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 to Low. “And then Ole Miss called again and said they could match it.”

“I really felt good with my decision to go pro, but that amount of money to play college football again for what amounts to about eight months makes you stop and think,” Simpson said. “I remember my parents telling me that $6 million was more than they had made the whole time they had been married, but the thing they wanted most for me was to be happy.”

As Simpson made his decision, he relied on advice from his former coach Nick Saban, who told him to take out the money and do what he would do if no one was offering him any money, per Low. With Simpson hearing from NFL personnel that he’s projected as a first-round pick, he felt comfortable going after his dream over returning to college.

Simpson was also motivated to only play for Alabama during his college career. Though he briefly considered transferring to Tennessee in the past and weighed the offers he received when he declared for the draft, he is content heading to the NFL after solely playing for the Crimson Tide.

“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,” Simpson told Low. “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.”

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