Back when David Sanders was looking at colleges, it seemed like the Nebraska football team had a very good shot at landing him, as it turns out, they may have lost out because they didn’t offer up a big enough bag.
Sanders was one of, it not the top offensive tackle recruit in the 2025 class. He was also someone the Huskers thought they had a real shot at landing despite schools like Tennessee and Ohio State putting on the full-court press in no small part because of his relationship with Dylan Raiola.
However, when the smoke cleared, Sanders chose the volunteers. At the time he committed and then signed with the SEC school, there was talk that NU lost out on the derby because they just got into it too late. But a new report by On3 seems to cast doubt on the timing of the Huskers arrival and more on how much they were willing to dole out in NIL money.
Who is the highest-paid recruit in the 2025 class? 🤔
— On3 (@On3sports) February 5, 2025
An ACC NIL Collective tells @PeteNakos_ it's 5-star Tennesssee OT David Sanders...
Story: https://t.co/RyXhLcsY97 pic.twitter.com/46hSQsPuiQ
Nebraska football couldn’t ante up for David Sanders
While it’s always hard to get exact numbers on this kind of thing, Pete Nakos reported earlier this week that an NIL collective made it clear that Sanders was the highest paid recruit of the 2025 class.
Assuming that is true, and there’s a healthy dash of salt with any of the reports about how much someone is getting paid through NIL funds, then it makes sense that the offensive tackle’s asking price was simply too high.
That could be why it was so easy to see exactly when the Nebraska football team fell out of the bidding as well. If the talk was that Tennessee had ponied up an massive pile of cash, the Huskers simply could have moved onto another prospect.