Oklahoma State appears to be paying premium money to land Drew Mestemaker, and an ESPN report suggests the Cowboys went deep into the NIL market to get him.
The transfer quarterback from North Texas is now in Stillwater with his head coach, Eric Morris, and ESPN placed Mestemaker among the most expensive passers in the portal. The report said, “Darian Mensah was once again the extreme outlier, with his unprecedented deal with Miami that was believed to approach $8 million before his settlement with Duke.
Now-former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby and LSU’s Sam Leavitt pushed the top of the market into the $4 million to $5 million range, with Josh Hoover (Indiana) and Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) not far behind them as coveted passers in the portal. South Carolina and Cal had to pony up to retain LaNorris Sellers and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, respectively.”
That kind of company tells the story. If Mestemaker is sitting near the top of that market, Oklahoma State is clearly willing to spend at a level that answers the biggest question hanging over the program this offseason: whether the Cowboys were ready to play in the deep end of the NIL and transfer portal pool.
And Mestemaker wasn’t the only addition that points in that direction. The Cowboys also brought in weapons like Wyatt Young and Caleb Hawkins, a sign that the spending in Stillwater may be more substantial than many expected, even without T. Boone Pickens around any more.
For Oklahoma State fans, the timing matters. The program was supposed to be one of the Big 12’s better teams in the conference’s new 16-team setup after Oklahoma and Texas moved on, but the last two seasons under Mike Gundy were a mess. He never really adjusted to the new version of college football, and the move forward had become necessary.
Now the pressure shifts to the people backing the program. Oklahoma is in the SEC and coming off a College Football Playoff appearance, and Oklahoma State can’t afford to get left behind in the arms race. The money doesn’t guarantee anything, but it does give the Cowboys a far better shot to compete at the top of the Big 12.
The confidence around Stillwater has only grown with the latest report. As I shared in one of our recent YouTube videos, Oklahoma State over 5.5 wins feels like a lock to me. And after this new ESPN report, I only feel even more confident with that assessment.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Is Leaning On Program Legends To Spark This New Team
Eric Morris has been looking for ways to connect this new Oklahoma State group with the standard that came before it, and inviting program figures Brandon Weeden and Terry Brown to a recent practice fit that approach. Both former Cowboys came away impressed by what they saw, pointing to the energy in the building and the way the current roster carried itself through the workout.
For a team trying to establish its identity before the games count, those kinds of outside checks can matter as much as any schematic tweak. Oklahoma State opens against Tulsa on Sept. 5, then gets Oregon at home a week later, and the early part of the schedule will quickly show whether that practice-field buzz translates once the lights come on. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Freshmen Are Suddenly Pushing For Real Fall Camp Roles
As Oklahoma State rebuilds after a 1-11 season, Eric Morris has already had one of the more encouraging early camp developments a coaching staff can ask for: true freshmen showing they belong before the calendar has even turned to fall. With roster turnover and the new eligibility rules opening the door for immediate competition, the Cowboys are taking a long look at newcomers who would normally need more time to develop, and that has made the opening workouts feel more like an audition than a standard first step of camp.
Morris has pointed to a handful of first-year players who are making noise at the right time, including running back KD Jones and wide receivers Jaxon Standard and Thornton. For a team trying to build back from the bottom, those kinds of early impressions matter because they can speed up the path to real playing time and help fill out a depth chart that needs fresh answers. The challenge now is turning those promising reps into something more lasting once the pace and competition of camp intensify. [Read more 🡒]