Quarterback is going to be Penn State’s biggest offseason question, and the money attached to that search is getting harder to ignore.
On3 reported Tuesday that the going rate for top-tier college quarterbacks next season will be in the $4-7 million range. That sounded outrageous enough on its own, but Wednesday brought an even bigger number: Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor is finalizing a deal worth $7.5 million, with the possibility of climbing to $9 million through incentives.
That is the kind of figure that makes the whole market feel unreal. A college quarterback at $7 million or $9 million a year is hard to process, but that’s where things are headed.
For Penn State, the issue is immediate. Rocco Becht will be gone next year, and there’s no realistic path to handing the job to unproven Alex Manske, who apparently wasn’t even in the conversation to start when Becht was really struggling last month.
That leaves the Lions staring at a problem that plenty of programs are facing, but not all of them can solve. If the top quarterbacks are going to cost close to $7 million, every school has to decide how far it can stretch and whether it can truly keep up.
Penn State, the reality is, probably can’t chase that market at the very top. The program is already behind the biggest spenders in college football, and ongoing stadium financing concerns aren’t going to help close that gap.
The danger, of course, is obvious. If a team can’t pay for the best quarterbacks, it may end up lining up against them instead.
And paying a premium doesn’t guarantee anything anyway. Penn State just beat Washington and $4 million QB Demond Williams Jr., who has been a solid player this season without being spectacular.
Becht reportedly is making about $2 million in NIL this season for Penn State, and nothing about his play suggests he’s the kind of franchise quarterback a team with national title ambitions can bank on.
That’s why the rest of this season feels different. Even if Penn State wins out and finishes 8-4, the quarterback situation for next year is still wide open, and the returning roster won’t matter much if the most important position has to be rebuilt again.
The likeliest answer is a transfer with a strong résumé, but that still doesn’t solve the biggest question. As with Becht, nobody will know how he handles the pressure at Penn State until he’s actually in the spot and proves it.
What seems clear is that the Lions won’t be able to match the biggest checks in the sport. A $4 million quarterback already feels like a stretch. $7 million or more? That looks out of reach.
And the fact that college football is even here now is wild enough. Give it another 10 years, and that number probably looks more like $20 million.
Disgusting.
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