Ryan Day puts high NIL price tag on keeping Ohio State’s roster together

Ryan Day sets the bar extremely high on what it will take to keep Ohio State’s roster together.

When it comes to NIL money, Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day says it will cost about $13 million to keep his Buckeyes rosters intact.

This may seem like a lot, but the Buckeyes are the biggest brand in the Big Ten and the best football program in its Power Five conference. Ohio State has big boosters, but even Day knows Ohio State will have to enter the NIL race aggressively. Otherwise, they could be getting passed by.

Day compared this to a speed limit, as in nobody drives the speed limit. It is merely a suggestion.

"“If the speed limit’s 45 miles per hour, and you drive 45 miles per hour, a lot of people are going to pass you by,” Day said. “If you go too fast, you’re going to get pulled over,” said Day to Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com"

Of course, no NIL compensation would be directly correlated to a player’s on-field performance.

Ryan Day names price point for NIL compensation to keep Ohio State together

Let’s say Ohio State has $13 million to use on NIL, available cap space, so you will. Are the Buckeyes going to evenly distribute that among all their players or would they look to divvy it up to where their most important players get the most money? While those in favor of equity would want the former, NIL is a capitalistic venture and we all know how capitalism works in pro sports.

As it is with any new legislation in college athletics, the best-run programs and athletic departments will make it work better and faster for them. While there may come a day where an NIL salary cap is being implemented across the land, that would surely be met with the student-athletes unionizing. The good news is that $13 million figure could be surpassed by a salary cap.

Ultimately, we are still very much in the Wild, Wild West of name, image, and likeness. We will all look back on what we are going currently five years from now and wonder how on earth could we have possibly been this stupid? Well, if you’re not learning, you ain’t trying. The best part is NIL will be dictated free-market economics. No amount of collusion is going to stop this downhill snowball.

If Day thinks that number is $13 million for now, just wait a few years and that will surely double.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.