Nebraska Football: Matt Rhule reveals market for portal QBs

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule made a definitive statement on the stat e of transfer portal quarterbacks during his press conference on Wednesday. Rhule indicated the price of a good transfer portal quarterback is in the millions.

This is certainly noteworthy information coming from the Nebraska football head coach. Nebraska football struggled with consistency at the quarterback position last season. On top of this, the Huskers did not get what they were expecting from quarterback Jeff Sims, who came to Nebraska via the transfer portal last year. Sims finished the season with 282 passing yards, one touchdown, and six interceptions.

Now, Nebraska football has a quarterback room that is expected to be headlined by Chubba Purdy and Heinrich Haarberg.  Both Purdy and Haarberg showed potential last season, but not enough consistency.

Purdy funished the year going 31-of-57, throwing for 382 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions over the course of five games. Haarberg had a starting role for the first half of the season, going 77-of-157 through the air, and throwing for seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions

Rhule knows that a good transfer portal quarterback will not come cheaply. He boldly said as much, as transcribed by HuskerOnline’s Steve Sipple.

Keep this in mind about portal QBs:

"Make no mistake, a good QB in the portal cost a million to 1.5 million to 2 million dollars right now," Matt Rhule said today.

There you go.

— Steven Sipple (@steven_sipple) November 29, 2023

Will Nebraska football pony up?

This is certainly a staggering number, but not at all surprising, given the landscape of collegiate athletics and NIL deals. Whatever the price may be, there is no doubt that Nebraska football needs a playmaker in the quarterback room. Putting a monetary amount to a quarterback at least acknowledges that the coaching staff recognizes how much it’s going to cost get a high-caliber quarterback.

Nebraska football finished 5-7 on the season. They have not made a bowl game since the 2016 campaign.

It remains to be seen if Nebraska athletics will pay that type of money for a quarterback. Honestly, I have serious doubts that Nebraska would pay that type of money for quarterback. They are just starting to really get involved in the NIL game. If anything, they appear to be a bit behind the times. Hopefully, I am proven wrong. However, I just don’t see it. Nebraska’s NIL operation isn’t the most publicly organized in the country.

The need for the program is there. A high-caliber transfer quarterback could be the difference between another losing season and success for Nebraska football.

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