After the seven-time national champion Oklahoma Sooners trudged to their second 6-7 season in three years — two of the first three seasons of head coach Brent Venables’ tenure — it was clear that change needed to happen, fast. In the current NCAA, thanks to the seven-year-old, game-changing transfer portal, instant upgrades are now possible.
So that’s what Venables did, moving on from 2024 starting quarterback Jackson Arnold, who transferred to Auburn, and bringing in Washington State sophomore signal-caller John Mateer, who already projects as a first-round draft pick, a top 10 pick in some early mock drafts.
Mateer’s NIL Valuation Makes Him a Multimillionaire
But though the transfer portal creates a quick method to build, or rebuild a college football team, the process is not cheap either.
Top transfers often command high price tags in NIL (name, image and likeness) deals. Former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck moved to Miami for the 2025 season, commanding a reported $4.3 million from 11 endorsement deals with such brands as Chipotle, Powerade and Beats by Dre, as well as from Miami’s collectively pooled NIL money, according to a Fox Sports report.
The same Fox report, from June, put Mateer’s NIL valuation at $2.7 million at Oklahoma.
That would rank him 14th among all college athletes in 2025, but would make him the highest-paid player in the history of Oklahoma Sooner sports.
His highest profile deal so far is with the headphone maker Beats by Dre, which signed 25 college athletes to its “Beats Elite” ad campaign.
Supreme Court 2021 Decision Opens Cash Faucet
The practice of paying college athletes through NIL money stems from a 2021 United States Supreme Court decision, NCAA v. Alston, in which the court ruled unanimously that the NCAA’s ban on paying student athletes outside of limited educational scholarships was a violation of antitrust laws, because it unfairly restrained the right of those athletes to sell their services in the marketplace.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh condemned the NCAA’s business model of maintaining “amateurism” in collegiate athletics as “flatly illegal.
The ruling opened the floodgates for student athletes, especially those with high public profiles such as quarterbacks at elite football programs, to rake in millions for representing their schools on the playing field.
NIL Value About Marketability, Performance
But the amount of a college athlete’s NIL package is not directly related to his or her athletic performance. Former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders reportedly earned $6.5 million in NIL money, despite never winning a championship, qualifying for the college football playoffs or winning a Heisman trophy.
Sanders was drafted in the fifth round this year by the Cleveland Browns, which merited him a $4.6 million, four-year rookie contract — less money than he earned in college.
The highest-paid student athlete this year is Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, who is in his first year as a starter with a record in 2025 of 1-1. But his NIL value is estimated at $6.8 million, per the Fox Sports report.
Mateer’s NIL Value Ticks Up
Since June, according to On3, Mateer’s valuation has ticked up to $2.8 million. That now ranks the Oklahoma quarterback 12th among all college athletes and 11th in college football.
After an easy 35-3 win over an overmatched Illinois State in his first Oklahoma game, Mateer gets a chance on Saturday to prove his worth when he faces Michigan — led by quarterback Bryce Underwood whose NIL valuation of $3 million ranks him 11th in the NCAA, according to On3.
John Mateer’s Oklahoma NIL Cash: How Much Does Quarterback Get Paid?