Jaden Rashada, a quarterback recruit whose $13 million NIL deal fell through, has requested a release from his letter of intent to enroll at Florida.
That’s according to the AP, which is reporting on the news after it was revealed last week that Rashada’s future with the Gators was now in question.
Rashada played high school football outside of San Francisco. He is graded as a five-star recruit by 247 Sports; ESPN has him ranked as the seventh-best quarterback in the class of 2023.
On Nov. 10, the Gator Collective signed Rashada to a $13 million NIL deal. The group is led by Eddie Rojas, a former Florida baseball player, who once boasted, “I would venture to say the Gator Collective is paying more guaranteed money than any group in the country. When I write a contract, I want to make sure that we actually have the money in our account.”
However, for reasons that have not been made clear, Rojas wrote a letter on Dec. 7 seeking to terminate the deal.
This caused a scramble among Florida head coach Billy Napier and his staff, which were apparently unaware of the specifics of what was going on. University coaches and administrators are not supposed to be directly involved in the NIL processes.
Florida is in a tough spot with its quarterback room next season. Starter Anthony Richardson declared for the 2023 NFL Draft. Backup Jalen Kitna was arrested on child pornography charges in November.
Quarterback Graham Mertz transferred from Wisconsin to Florida after struggling to live up to lofty expectations in three seasons for the Badgers after he was brought in as a four-star recruit.