Top 10 Highest-Earning College Football Quarterbacks Heading Into the 2025 Season

Darian Mensah turned plenty of heads in 2024, guiding Tulane to a 9-5 finish and a spot in the American Athletic Conference title game.

Now, Duke has gone all in to bring the electric dual-threat quarterback to Durham. His arrival has sparked a wave of excitement around the program, and it didn’t come cheap. After announcing his transfer, Mensah secured a blockbuster NIL arrangement reportedly valued at $4 million annually over two years, according to ESPN, CBS Sports, and multiple outlets.

The Blue Devils have made it clear; they believe Mensah is the type of quarterback worth breaking the bank for.

Back in November, Sherrone Moore and Michigan pulled off a massive recruiting coup, flipping the nation's top quarterback in the 2025 class from LSU to Ann Arbor. A key piece in the decision? 

The deep pockets of Oracle founder and Michigan mega-booster Larry Ellison—now ranked as the world’s second-richest man—who is backing an NIL deal worth an eye-popping $10 to $12 million over four years for young phenom Bryce Underwood.

That jaw-dropping package instantly places the newly-turned 18-year-old among the elite earners in college football. 

A year ago, Carson Beck was in a very different spotlight—Georgia's starter, a preseason Heisman frontrunner, and the face of a team many penciled in for another national title. Instead, the season unraveled. Beck battled inconsistency, then suffered a torn UCL in his throwing arm during the SEC Championship, forcing Gunnar Stockton to take the reins. Weeks later, Beck hit the transfer portal.

Enter the Miami Hurricanes, who swooped in with a lucrative offer reportedly between $3 and $3.2 million for 2025, with bonus clauses that could push the payday even higher. Now the question looms: can Beck rebound and deliver on that hefty price tag, or will the ‘Canes be left wondering if they paid top dollar for a roll of the dice?

At this point, Dylan Raiola is a household name in the world of college football. Once a five-star prodigy, he bounced from commitments at Ohio State and Georgia before finally planting his flag at Nebraska, where he inked an NIL deal north of $3 million for the season.

As a true freshman in Lincoln, Raiola showed glimpses of his sky-high potential, finishing with 2,819 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and 11 picks. Solid numbers, but not quite what you'd expect from a quarterback being paid like a superstar. Head coach Matt Rhule, along with a restless fanbase, will be banking on Raiola making that crucial leap in year two to justify the investment.

The most vivid image many college football fans have of Drew Allar is the ill-timed interception he tossed in Penn State’s College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame. Yet, step back and his résumé is far more impressive: across two seasons under center, Allar has racked up 5,958 yards, 49 touchdowns, and only 10 picks.

Had he taken the NFL plunge last spring, there’s little doubt the ex-five-star would’ve heard his name in the top 10 picks. Instead, he returned to Happy Valley, with a reported NIL deal worth at least $3 million keeping him in blue and white. With three transfer wideouts added to fix what was once a glaring weakness, Penn State opens the season ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll—and Allar will be at the heart of their push for a national championship.

Per On3's Pete Nakos, the Oklahoma Sooners are digging deep into their pockets for Mateer, handing the quarterback a deal projected between $2.5 and $3 million for 2025 after luring him away from Washington State.

Mateer, who arrives in Norman alongside his former play-caller Ben Arbuckle, shredded defenses last fall with 3,139 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions. Now, the Texas product shoulders the responsibility of breathing new life into a Sooners program that has been treading water since Lincoln Riley bolted for USC. A breakout season from him could do more than put Oklahoma back in the national conversation—it might also solidify Brent Venables’ grip on the head coaching chair.

Diego Pavia turned into one of college football’s surprise sensations last season when he engineered Vanderbilt’s first victory over Alabama in 40 years, a moment that cemented his name in Commodore history.

Pavia is back for what figures to be his final collegiate campaign. Vanderbilt is compensating him north of $2 million, banking on the dual-threat quarterback to elevate them once more.

In 2024, he piled up 2,293 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and only four interceptions, while adding 801 yards and eight scores with his legs. The hope in Nashville is that Pavia’s encore is even bigger than the breakout act.

The 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year doesn’t exactly fit the mold of your traditional pocket passer. Pavia, a 6-foot, 207-pound Albuquerque native, brings a dual-threat edge, using his mobility as effectively as any signal-caller in the country.

He draws shades of Johnny Manziel with his improvisational flair—only with a little extra toughness and grit thrown into the mix, which is no small compliment.

Much like Sellers, Avery Johnson is a dynamic athlete who's still fine-tuning his game. The highly rated prospect wasted little time making an impression at Kansas State, seeing the field as a true freshman before stepping into the spotlight last season.

When Will Howard departed for Ohio State, Johnson seized the starting role and delivered a strong campaign—throwing for 2,712 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 10 picks, while also proving lethal with his legs, racking up 605 rushing yards and seven scores.

With expectations sky-high, the Wildcats are reportedly shelling out more than $2 million to keep their rising star under center in 2025, hoping this is the year he fully explodes onto the national stage.

LaNorris Sellers heads into the 2025 season with his name firmly etched among college football's brightest quarterbacks after a sensational breakout in 2024.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound South Carolina native wasn’t supposed to be the star of the show, but once handed the reins as a redshirt sophomore, the former three-star prospect more than delivered. Sellers completed 65.6% of his passes, racking up 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns, and seven picks, while also pounding out 674 yards and seven scores on the ground.

A one-time Freshman All-American and the SEC's Freshman of the Year, Sellers spearheaded Shane Beamer's Gamecocks to a 9-4 campaign—their best since 2017.

That kind of breakout doesn’t just turn heads on Saturdays; it opens doors off the field, too. Sellers cashed in with NIL deals, from Collegiate Legends action figures to Raising Cane's, before landing a flashy partnership with Beats by Dre as part of the brand’s "Beats Elite' push.

All told, Sellers is set to earn around $1.8 million this season—a testament to just how far his stock has skyrocketed.

Kicking things off is a name that might not carry the same weight as some of the others on this list—but Josh Hoover is no one to overlook. The TCU redshirt junior has quietly become a difference-maker in Fort Worth.

Per Pete Nakos, Hoover is set to pocket around $1.75 million this year after the Horned Frogs successfully beat back a strong push from Tennessee to lure him into the transfer portal.

The payday feels justified. In 2024, Hoover hit on 66.5% of his throws, piling up 3,949 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. If he can trim down those turnovers in year three under Sonny Dykes, TCU won’t just be dangerous in the Big 12 race, they could be knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff.