Alabama's Top NIL Players Entering College Football Playoff

A mix of a quarterback, edge rushers and cornerbacks lead the Crimson Tide in NIL valuation

The Alabama Crimson Tide are the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff and will take on the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

While the matchup is highly anticipated, there is an opportunity for Alabama players to boost their value in Name, Image and Likeness, especially if they expect to return to college football in 2024.

With NIL, these games and the attention they provide offers them a chance to leverage and benefit financially - especially those are in the Top 5 in valuation among Crimson Tide players, per On3.com.

Quarterback Jalen Milroe has the highest valuation of any Crimson Tide player at $1.3 million.

After a slow start to the 2023 season - which included an early loss to Texas in Tuscaloosa - Milroe is playing his best football of the season, as he’s thrown for 2,718 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also had a pair of 100-yard rushing games in his last five contests.

Milroe has deals with Beats by Dre and Rhoback, among others. 

With a name built for NIL, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry has the second-highest valuation of any Alabama player at $899,000. McKinstry suffered a concussion during the SEC Championship Game and is in concussion protocol. But with a few weeks before the semifinal game, there is hope he’ll be ready to play.

Naturally, one of McKinstry's most prominent NIL deals is with Kool-Aid, the drink.

Some consider him a potential first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Another cornerback, Terrian Arnold, is No. 3 in valuation at $769,000. He isn’t draft eligible yet, as he’s only played two college football seasons. But, he had a breakthrough season in 2023 with five interceptions and he recorded six tackles in the SEC title game.

He's started with a cautious approach to NIL, as he has an NIL deal with Boost Mobile.

Crimson Tide edge rusher and senior Chris Braswell is fourth in valuation at $761,000. Braswell has 41 tackles, eight sacks, an interception and a touchdown this season, which includes three sacks against Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

He was the first Alabama player to strike an NIL deal that allowed him to sell merchandise with Alabama's script A logo. 

Rounding out the Top 5 in valuations is another edge rusher, Dallas Turner, who is up for several postseason awards. His valuation is $736,000. He recently used his NIL funds to invest in the US SailGP team, joining a celebrity group of investors.

Turner has 50 tackles, nine sacks and two forced fumbles in his third college football season. That makes his draft-eligible for 2024. One for Turner's more prominent deals is with a fintech company, PoetrYY Finance.