What Every Position Costs in College Football

The short version

A proven Power 4 starting quarterback reportedly costs $1.5 million to $2.5 million this cycle. A starting tackle or edge rusher generally runs $500,000 to $1 million. A reliable starting kicker can cost less than $100,000. Those figures come from the people writing the checks: general managers and agents surveyed by CBS Sports in December 2025, corroborated by ESPN's reporting through the January portal window.

This page is the position-by-position reference—every reported range in one table and one chart, with The NIL Standard's own starter valuations overlaid. Our numbers are built separately from those surveys—drawn from public depth charts, production data, and market signals—which makes the overlay a real test: our starter bands land inside the reported ranges at all 12 position groups, and our medians fall inside the reported typical-starter bands at 10 of 12. Every figure is an estimated market value, not a salary.

For the full map of how college athletes get paid—school revenue sharing, collectives, and brand deals—start with our cornerstone guide, How College Athletes Get Paid.

The market at a glance

Reported price ranges for the 2026 cycle, by position group. "Low end" is what a fringe or unproven starter reportedly costs, "typical starter" is the going rate for an established one, and "elite" is the reported ceiling tier.

Why the hierarchy looks like this

The shape is no accident. General managers surveyed by CBS Sports said top quarterbacks can absorb roughly 20 percent of a top program's player budget—the scarcest, most game-deciding position prices accordingly. The next tier is the players who protect the quarterback and the players who hunt him: offensive tackle and edge have long been the premium non-QB spots, and the 2026 window priced them that way.

The interior line and off-ball linebacker are where roster builders find value—real starters at a fraction of premium-position cost. The whole structure mirrors NFL positional economics, compressed into a younger market. And that market is moving fast: one SEC general manager told CBS Sports the going rate for an average starter roughly doubled in a year, from about $300,000 to about $600,000, while the cycle's reported top quarterback deals—like the $6 million figure for LSU's Sam Leavitt reported by The Athletic—stretched the ceiling again.

Position by position

Quarterback

Quarterback is the market. Proven Power 4 starters reportedly run $1.5 million to $2.5 million, with the elite tier starting around $3.5 million. ESPN's pre-window reporting had the best available passers expecting $3–4 million with the top of the class up to $5 million, and its post-window wrap confirmed the leaders realized $3–5 million—reported figures for individual deals this cycle ran as high as $6 million. Scarcity does the pricing: per CBS Sports' GM sourcing, a top quarterback alone can absorb about a fifth of a player budget.

Wide receiver

Receiver pricing fans out wider than almost any other position: $300,000–$500,000 at the low end, $500,000–$800,000 for a typical starter, and $1 million–$2 million for a true No. 1. CBS Sports' GM sourcing projected then-Auburn wideout Cam Coleman around the $2 million range entering the window—the reported going rate for a receiver a staff believes is an offense's centerpiece.

Edge rusher

Edge is the defense's premium line item: $300,000–$500,000 at the low end, $600,000–$1 million typical, and $1 million–$1.7 million for proven pass-rush production. CBS Sports reported that an edge of Dylan Stewart's caliber would have commanded roughly $2 million had he entered the portal—the clearest signal of where the true top of this market sits.

Defensive tackle

The interior surged this cycle: $250,000–$500,000 entry pricing, $500,000–$700,000 typical, and $800,000 to $1.5 million-plus for disruptive three-down tackles. ESPN's post-window reporting found seven-figure deals readily available for defensive linemen—run-game gravity and interior pocket push now get paid like premium traits.

Offensive tackle

Tackle is the classic non-QB premium. Reported entry pricing is $300,000–$500,000, a typical starter runs $500,000–$1 million, and proven blindside protection clears $1 million. ESPN reported agents had little trouble finding seven-figure deals for tackles in the January window—and that Colorado's Jordan Seaton entered it positioned to effectively set his own price.

Cornerback

Corner pricing rewards proven cover men: $150,000–$350,000 entry, $400,000–$700,000 typical, and $800,000 to $1 million-plus for lockdown play. The reported band prices the whole room—boundary, field, and the slot and nickel defenders who are effectively starters in modern defenses.

Running back

Running back is the cheapest premium-skill spot to fill at the low end—serviceable starters reportedly enter around $250,000. The typical band runs $400,000–$700,000, and proven difference-makers clear $1 million. Backs are priced on demonstrated workload more than projection; this market pays after the tape, not before it.

Safety

Safety runs a notch below corner: $200,000–$350,000 at the low end, $350,000–$500,000 typical, and $700,000 to $1 million for rangy, do-everything types—the players a defense asks to cover the slot, fill the box, and play the post on consecutive snaps.

Tight end

Tight end stays affordable: $200,000–$300,000 at the low end, $300,000–$500,000 typical, and $600,000–$800,000 at the top of the position. The spread reflects role breadth—inline blockers come cheaper, while the flex receiving piece in a tight-end-forward scheme is what pushes toward the ceiling.

Interior offensive line

Interior line pricing tracks tight end: $200,000–$300,000 low, $300,000–$500,000 typical, $600,000–$800,000 elite. Centers carry a quiet premium inside that band—CBS Sports' GM sourcing put good ones around $500,000—because the position calls protections and touches every snap.

Linebacker

Off-ball linebacker remains the market's best value: $150,000–$250,000 at the low end and $250,000–$500,000 for most starters. The $700,000-plus tier is reserved for sideline-to-sideline players who never leave the field.

Kicker and punter

Specialist money is real but modest: solid starting kickers and punters reportedly run $50,000–$100,000, with the best pushing $100,000–$200,000. The market is thin—most programs solve the position for less than a backup lineman costs.

How our numbers compare

The ranges above are other people's numbers—dozens of general managers and agents surveyed by CBS Sports, plus ESPN's reporting through the window. Our valuations are built separately, from public depth charts, production data, and market signals, with no access to anyone's books. That independence makes the overlay a real test: if the model is sound, its starter distributions should land where the people writing the checks say the market is.

So we tested it. We took every projected starter across all 68 Power 4 programs on live depth charts as of June 11, 2026—1,611 players, after a small number of documented sync-lag corrections recorded in our committed analysis script—and computed each position group's 25th-to-90th percentile valuation band and median. Those are the dark bands and tick marks in the chart at the top of this page.

The result, exactly as computed: our P25–P90 starter bands fall inside the independently reported ranges at all 12 position groups, and our medians land inside the GM-quoted typical-starter bands at 10 of 12. The two exceptions are defensive tackle and safety, where our medians sit a few percent above the typical band while remaining inside the overall reported range.

Two disclosures keep that claim honest. First, about 6 percent of the starter values in that population carry documented manual corrections—cases where a publicly reported deal or an editorial review replaces the model's output. Remove every one of them and all 12 groups still land inside the reported ranges. Second, the top of our quarterback range leans on documented entries rather than model output—the cycle's reported mega-deals enter our dataset as documented corrections. In that same test, with every manual correction removed, our QB P90 falls from about $4 million to roughly $2.1 million—still inside the reported span, but below the reported elite tier. The model is calibrated to the market; the very top of the QB market is documented rather than modeled.

A few notes on what was measured. Multi-slot positions contribute multiple starters (two tackles, three interior linemen, three receivers), so the 12 groups cover 1,611 players rather than 68 elevens. Slot and nickel defenders count within cornerback, which matches how the reported CB ranges price the room—nickel pricing is explicitly part of that market. And the edge-versus-interior split follows each depth chart's designation, so a few 3-4 strongside ends land on the edge side of the line. The full build—every input, and where reported deals replace the model—is in our methodology. Every figure we publish is an estimated market value, not a reported salary, except where we say a deal was publicly reported.

Where the money comes from

Common questions

Are these numbers salaries?

No. The ranges are reported market figures from GM and agent surveys and national reporting, and our overlaid bands are estimated market values from our model. Nothing on this page is a salary or a confirmed contract unless we say a deal was publicly reported.

What is the most expensive position in college football?

Quarterback, by a wide margin. A typical Power 4 starter reportedly costs $1.5 million to $2.5 million for the 2026 cycle, top reported deals reached $4–6 million, and GM sourcing says a top quarterback can absorb roughly 20 percent of an entire player budget.

Why do tackles and edge rushers cost more than other non-quarterbacks?

Because they protect—or attack—the most expensive player on the field. Pass protection and pass rush are the scarcest non-QB skills, so they carry the largest premiums, the same structure the NFL's salary allocation has shown for decades.

How do The NIL Standard's valuations compare to the reported market?

Our P25–P90 starter bands sit inside the independently reported ranges at all 12 position groups, and our medians land inside the reported typical-starter bands at 10 of 12—see How our numbers compare for the full result, including the disclosures that keep it honest.