Todd Bowles Talks NIL Money Impact – JoeBucsFan.com

Todd Bowles speaks.

So electric returner/receiver Tez Johnson, the Bucs’ seventh-round draft pick, isn’t getting much of a pay raise this season to play for Tampa Bay.

He’ll pull in about $865,000. That’s in the ballpark of earnings for a stud receiver at the University of Oregon, which Johnson was.

Yes, times have changed. That’s why fans aren’t treated to as many wildly emotional draft-night scenes. So many players already hit the lottery in college and have more of a professional mindset.

Asked about how life-changing earnings for college athletes, NIL money, has affected evaluation of college prospects this week on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Todd Bowles had a thoughtful answer.

“I don’t think it hurts when you’re evaluating a player. I think it hurts when you’re evaluating the person,” Bowles said.

“When you’re evaluating why they’re taking the money or how they’re taking the money or if they keep transferring from schools, you try to find out the ‘why’ in that category. The player is gonna be the player.

“I think we’re all still trying to figure how the NIL is working and how that affects everybody in the league. And everybody’s still scrambling in college as well as in the NFL. But the player itself, the tape and the practice habits will tell you a lot about the person.

“The character tells you a lot about the person. We try to pick high character guys and understand that some people need the money and may use it as a motivation. Some people play for the love of the game; some people play to take care of their families. It’s up to us, it’s up to the scouts. It’s up for everybody to decipher what kind of person we’re bringing in the building and we try to make sure we bring in the right person. Obviously, money talks in a lot of cases and these guys aren’t desperate to get the league money now that they can get the college money. I mean, they’re handing out like hotcakes over there.

“But there’s still a lot of guys where the NFL is the pinnacle and they work at it and they find their craft, and they want to be the best in the league. And those are the guys you try to take.”

The Bucs certainly seem to have found the right formula.

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