Michigan State’s 2026 roster comes with a price tag, and a few Spartans look like they’ll be asked to justify every dollar of it.
According to The NIL Standard, MSU’s roster is valued at $21.8 million total, which puts the Spartans 10th in the Big Ten. Oregon leads the conference at $41.4 million, a figure that ranks second nationally, while Ohio State checks in at $37.6 million.
Those numbers are estimates, not hard accounting. The source of the money is murky, too, with third-party NIL deals still the biggest piece of the college football payment puzzle.
And because schools don’t exactly advertise what they’re spending, the whole thing is more educated guess than exact science. Even so, the valuations offer a useful look at where Michigan State sits.
At the top of the Spartans’ list is Alessio Milivojevic, which makes sense. The starting quarterback is usually the most valuable player on the field, and that’s true even when he’s still relatively inexperienced. Whatever Milivojevic is making, it’s already enough to buy him a house large enough to host teammates and visiting recruits.
The more surprising name near the top is Isaac Smith. He started all 12 games last season after transferring from Texas Tech, but the production didn’t exactly match the price tag: 26 tackles and 1.0 sack.
For a near-million-dollar EDGE rusher, that’s a tough fit. He also doesn’t have the kind of online presence that would point to major brand appeal.
Jordan Hall stands out for a different reason. He’s only 13th on the roster in the estimates, at about $590k, and that feels light. If he’s not one of the top earners on the team, maybe even top five, then either he took a discount or Michigan State isn’t allocating money especially well.
Charles Brantley looks like another player whose actual value may be higher than the estimate. He’s listed at roughly $468k, which puts him 17th on the roster.
Brantley barely played at Miami (FL) last season, but he was one of MSU’s best players in 2024. He missed three games because of injury and still earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten after picking off three passes in nine games.
The offensive line appears to be where Michigan State spent heavily this offseason. The Spartans brought in a long list of transfers to upgrade the unit, and there’s a real chance their starting five will all be redshirt seniors or older.
Four players look locked in as starters: Ben Murawski, Nick Sharpe, Trent Fraley, and Conner Moore. All four have at least 1,000 college snaps under their belts, and Murawski and Moore - the two tackles - are estimated to be the team’s two biggest earners behind Milivojevic for good reason. Sharpe, who has worked with OL coach Nick Tabacca before at Wake Forest, and Fraley, last season’s FCS Rimington Award winner, could easily be making more than their listed values as well.
Another name to watch is Tyran Chappell. His estimate sits at just $170k, which is low enough to fly under the radar, but he may end up as Michigan State’s third corner this season. Coming from an FCS school keeps the number down, but he also brings three years of eligibility, which makes him a more valuable piece than the estimate suggests.
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