Ty Simpson says he talked to Nick Saban before deciding on massive NIL offer
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Former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is expected to the be second quarterback selected in the 2026 NFL Draft this week — but he almost wasn’t available for the draft at all.
Prior to officially entering this class, Simpson had offers to enter the transfer portal from multiple college programs. In an interview with David Pollack this week, Simpson acknowledged at least one offer was something that warranted significant consideration.
“I think the last offer was definitely one that I just had to sit down and consider, because it would have been life-changing money,” Simpson said. “It would have made me the highest-paid player in college, and it was something to where I was like, alright, I can’t just ignore this. I have to sit down and think about it. That’s how I am, I don’t want to do anything sporadic. I want to sit down and think it all out.”
Simpson was reportedly offered $6.5 million to succeed Carson Beck at Miami. Instead, he ultimately decided to enter the NFL Draft.
Simpson said he sought guidance from former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who recruited Simpson to Tuscaloosa out of high school. He also said his legacy as an Alabama quarterback was something that was meaningful to him.
“And it really just came down to how I wanted to be remembered and what do I want to do,” Simpson said. “I actually talked to coach about this, coach Saban. “I actually talked to Coach Saban about this,” Simpson said. “The things he was talking about were, ‘do you want to play football in college, or do you want to play football professionally?’ And he was like, ‘take the money out of it, take the rounds out of it, what do you want to do next year?’ And without a doubt, without hesitation, I said, ‘I want to play professional football.’ And he was like, ‘Well, there’s your answer.’”
The Arizona Cardinals have been widely linked to Simpson in the draft, but it remains to be seen where he will begin his pro career. Here are the latest odds on Kalshi:
The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft will be held on Thursday night.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
