Taulia Tagovailoa Claims He Was Offered NFL Money By An SEC Team To Leave Maryland
Taulia Tagovailoa was apparently offered a significant amount of money to leave Maryland for the SEC.
Taulia is getting ready to suit up for his redshirt senior season with the Terrapins, and there were a lot of fans who worried he might leave the program after last season.
After all, the transfer portal is essentially just NFL free agency for the best players. You can hate it or love it, but it's true.
Well, the SEC NIL kings apparently made a play and ultimately failed to lure Tua's younger brother back to the conference he started at with Alabama.
SEC school offered Taulia Tagovailoa $1.5 million to leave Maryland. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Taulia Tagovailoa offered NFL money to leave Maryland.
The Maryland gunslinger revealed to The Athletic during Big Ten Media Days that an unnamed SEC program offered $1.5 million to transfer. He referred to it as "crazy money."
"It can be eye-opening, but I think for my situation — if I was in a different situation where maybe I didn’t have a brother in the NFL or maybe my parents, it’d be a different situation," the talented passer explained.
Clearly, it wasn't enough cash because Taulia didn't go anywhere.
Taulia Tagovailoa has been a star at Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)
Taulia passed up NFL money to stay at Maryland.
If he had, the college veteran quarterback would have earned more money than several NFL passers.
The SEC offer was more money than Kyle Trask, Davis Mills, Desmond Ridder, Malik Willis, Matt Corral, Kellen Mond, Josh Johnson and several other backups will make.
It really just goes to show how much college football has changed. Players used to be suspended over free gifts. Now, a player can be offered more money than a fringe NFL starter and it barely moves the needle.
Taulia Tagovailoa could have earned NFL money to transfer to the SEC. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The good news for Maryland is Taulia Tagovailoa stayed put in College Park, and could close out his time in college by putting up some huge numbers. If the NFL comes calling, the $1.5 million could seem like an afterthought.