quote:
Agree with having discipline with who gets paid what. Wise move.

But if your NIL overall program is not competitive you will not be competitive in the SEC.

That's a fair statement.

I think LSU's NIL deals are fine, and I think Kelly wants to set precedent now that the guys who are here now will get the money, not some random dude from the portal who wasn't more than an average starter.
That gets more kids coming younger/out of high school, where they can develop and learn within the program.

You DON'T want to be the school that reloads in the portal every year, and pays through the nose to do so. That's not sustainable. If you can land a legit superstar, you take him and pay. But you don't pay a guy a million simply because you want to take "a DL". Dude might be a bust, or he might be just rotation.

Look at LSU's players drafted this year. Mehki Wingo was good, Jordan Jefferson was solid, Maason Smith got hurt and didn't show out on the field.
Wingo and Jefferson were transfers. Wingo went in the 5th rd because he's got limited size and upside, what you see is what you get, and we don't know if he can thrive in the NFL at his size. Jefferson went in the 4th because he's bigger.
Maason Smith went in the 2nd, because he was a stud, and if he recovers to pre-injury and develops, could be a stud in the NFL.

You want to sign more Maason Smiths out of high school (and hope they don't get hurt), instead of continously signing 4th and 5th rd picks because "we need to fill a hole". You fill the hole for 1, maybe 2 years, and then you're back in the portal, looking at another B or C player.