Carson Beck’s reported NIL package at Miami is flat-out disrespectful to Cam Ward

Former Georgia starting quarterback Carson Beck announced Friday he would be transferring to Miami, the abrupt move coming after he suffered an elbow injury during the SEC Championship game in December and was replaced with backup Gunnar Stockton for the College Football Playoff.

Beck's NFL Draft stock also took a sharp hit after his injury, adding more incentive to find a new college home to revamp his professional prospects. Miami will be the lucky recipient of his services (conveniently where his girlfriend, basketball star Hanna Cavinder, attends) but it's going to cost them a pretty penny.

According to The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Beck is set to make over $3 million from the school's NIL collective. That's double what previous quarterback Cam Ward made in 2024 ($1.6 million) and he was even voted a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Carson Beck's reported NIL package is shamefully inflated compared to Cam Ward's

For a quarterback like Beck to reportedly receive so much cash from the same school that benefitted from Ward and didn't pay him nearly as much is almost shameful. Beck has just two years as a starter for the Dawgs and no national title game appearances to show for it. Ward may have come up short of the CFP this season but his abilities individually exceed Beck's by a long shot.

Ward racked up 8,048 passing yards in 2023 and 2024 compared to Beck's 7,426. He also was responsible for 64 touchdowns through the air in that same span, 12 more than Beck. It can also be argued Ward did all of that with significantly inferior supporting casts at Washington State and Miami than Beck had in Athens.

What has Beck proven besides being a big name that might attract other talented individuals to Miami? Even in that respect, the transfer window is nearly up and most top players have already committed elsewhere. In fact, the two top wide receivers in the portal - USC's Zachariah and Zion Branch - committed to Georgia on Jan. 5, before Beck entered the portal himself.

While the dynamics of college athletics and being paid to play are constantly evolving, it doesn't look like Beck got his fair market value in the transfer portal. It's certainly been inflated in order to coax him to Coral Gables. Either that or Ward got shafted when he was looking for his new home prior to the 2024 season.