Jalin Hyatt, a football player for Tennessee, discusses how the Vols’ NIL talks affected their NFL choice option.
Jalin Hyatt, a former wide receiver for Tennessee football, talked about why he decided to enter the 2023 NFL Draft. He, his agent, and the Vols had multiple NIL conversations before making this decision.
During the Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Hyatt discussed his choice with the “Hot Mic w/ Hutton & Withrow” podcast on Outkick.com. A week ago, Tennessee was the subject of an NCAA investigation into possible NIL benefit violations in a number of sports, including football and quarterback Nico Iama. Hyatt made these remarks.
Hyatt said to hosts Chad Withrow and Jonathan Hutton, “It was one of those things (where I was) talking to my agent; obviously, we had a good feeling of myself being drafted.” Upon being drafted, one must examine the situation. In the event that you are drafted, say in the third, fourth, or any other round, you are aware of your spot and salary. And with the University of Tennessee, that is essentially what we were doing.”
While he clarified that he wasn’t requesting millions of dollars to remain in Tennessee, Hyatt said he was looking for “a good number that we can agree on.” After a season in which he caught 67 catches for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns, he was in the offseason.
Nevertheless, he claimed it was harder for him to come to a decision to stay with the Vols because of incoming transfers and elite recruits like Iamaleava, who the Vols wanted him to return to Knoxville before reaching a final deal.
“The absurd thing is that I wasn’t requesting a million dollars or anything comparable. Finding a good amount that we can both agree on was more important. However, there were also a ton of other things. It was one of those situations where they were struggling because they were attempting to collect money as well as bring in transfers. Naturally, Nico was also bringing in a sizable sum of money at the time.
Thus, it was a little challenging for them. Hence, we kind of arrived to that conclusion at the end. I also stated to myself, “We couldn’t get it done.” But really, I appreciate everything the University of Tennessee has provided for me.
Hyatt was ultimately selected with the 73rd overall pick by the New York Giants in the third round. In addition to a $272,784 signing bonus, he inked a four-year, $5.6 million contract with a base salary of $750,000 for the 2023 NFL season.
The amount of money Tennessee would have offered Hyatt to return for a second season is unknown. The Giants receiver did, in fact, state that Tennessee wouldn’t guarantee a certain sum of money until he got back to Knoxville.
And the thing was, it wasn’t like they couldn’t give me the number I desired. Waiting for it was what they desired. “Oh, you can come back, and then let’s deal with the numbers,” was what they intended to say. Like, no, that’s not how the system is meant to operate.
“Because then how can I compare it to the league when you’re telling me, ‘OK, you got to come back before we can even decide what numbers we can talk about.'” Despite this, Hyatt thinks the NIL is “good” for college football, although he acknowledges that the league needs more structure overall.
According to Hyatt, “you just can’t go out there and sign $4 million contracts or whatever.” You have options for what to do with it.
“If you are going to sign and let’s just put a number, say $1 million (in) NIL boom: $1 million you are at this school, University of Tennessee, there should be rules to it; you have to do this; you have to be able to appear at events on why youโre making this money; it shouldnโt just be coming in the bank account.”