Three Baylor Football Players About to Earn Themselves a Bigger NIL Deal
In this story:
Fall camp is in full swing as the college football season approaches. As most of the NIL acquisitions have settled, it's time to make predictions on who will earn themselves a bigger check in the next contract cycle.
Jacob Redding (safety)
Perhaps the best player on the disappointing Baylor defense last season, Redding led the team with a 75.2 overall grade along with the best run defense grade, which landed at 81.4 per PFF.
The former walk-on had the biggest breakout of anyone on the roster, and earned himself around $450,000 for the 2026 season per the NIL standard.
Redding is arguably underpaid considering his performance last season, and if he can take another step in the right direction, teams across the country will be willing to throw some serious cash at him.
Kyland Reed (linebacker)
Kyland Reed has been thrown into leading the Baylor linebacker unit after losing Keaton Thomas to the transfer portal. While Travion Barnes is hoped to be a weapon at the Mike, fans can only hope he is able to stay on the field.
Reed played all 12 games last season and hopefully will be able to take another step in the right direction for the Bears in 2026; his role under the new defensive coordinator, Joe Klanderman, is very important in stopping the opponents' running game.
If Reed is an anchor and gets up to 75-80 tackles this season, he will certainly earn more than the ≈ 326k he is making right now in the next cycle.
Dre'lon Miller (wide receiver)
Miller will have one season of eligibility left after this year. The Colorado transfer likely has the best yards-after-catch ability on the team after leaving a program with four NFL receivers, including Jacksonville Jaguar Travis Hunter.
Miller has the Big 12 experience and the talent to lead the Baylor wide receiver room. He is probably underpriced right now considering he will be getting a lot of snaps over the course of the season.
If Miller can be a consistent target for Lagway and be a weapon in the ground game as well, he will certainly earn himself a handsome check come the 2027 season.
The bigger picture
We expect these three players to take a step in the right direction in the 2026 season, taking the Bears from being a middling Big 12 team back to competing for a top-tier bowl game.
If these players (and others) can help bring Baylor football from a 5-7 season to prominence, they will likely be inking a nice check come next season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Bennett is an undergrad student at Baylor University, studying journalism on the sports track. He is from the DFW area and grew up playing and watching sports, which inspired him to pursue sports writing.
Follow bennettpBU