Ty Simpson is headed to the NFL, but the former Alabama quarterback says Miami made that decision a lot harder than people realized. Simpson said on David Pollack's podcast that Miami's reported $6.5 million offer to transfer for the 2026 season was too big to ignore and forced him to seriously weigh one more year of college football against turning pro.
Ty Simpson considered staying in college for $6.5 million offer from Miami. https://t.co/jYtp0XulA3
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 20, 2026
Ty Simpson says Miami's $6.5 million offer made him think twice before NFL draft
Simpson called the proposal "life-changing money" and said he had to sit down and think it through instead of making a quick decision. He also mentioned that he was worried that transferring for that kind of money would change how people remembered his Alabama career.
He said he did not want to be remembered as the guy who took the money and left after being a team captain at Alabama. Nick Saban's advice also became important to the decision. Simpson said Saban told him to strip the money out of the equation and ask himself whether he wanted to play college football or professional football next. Simpson's answer was the NFL.
Simpson had just led Alabama to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals in his first year as the full-time starter, throwing for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and only five interceptions in 15 games.
Miami's quarterback search was urgent at the time
Near mid-January, Miami did not have its 2026 starter locked in and was trying to make a major swing before eventually landing Duke transfer Darian Mensah later that month. On January 28, Mensah committed to Miami after resolving his dispute with Duke, giving the Hurricanes their next starting quarterback.
What it says about Miami and the current state of college football
Miami was reportedly willing to put NFL-level money on the table for one college season at quarterback, and Simpson still said no because he believed the better move for his future and his legacy was to go pro.
That tells you that Miami is going to stay aggressive when it sees a quarterback worth chasing and college football's top-end NIL market is now strong enough to make projected first-round quarterbacks pause before entering the draft.
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