The higher you soar, the more devastating a fall is. Now I’m no body language expert, but sometimes the indications are just blatant. Getting drafted is, conventionally, one of the most euphoric moments of an athlete’s career. But Texas QB Quinn Ewers’ demeanor on the broadcast when the Miami Dolphins selected him will have you think he didn’t ascend to the NFL. Instead, he just hit rock bottom. The thing about a reality check is, even the most well-wired brains can’t fathom them. Ewers sliding all the way to round 7 didn’t just affect his ego or his chances of being a starter in the league. It affected his pockets, too. Massively.
4 years are an eternity in the context of the sports realm. This time 4 years ago, Quinn Ewers was the cat’s meow. Now, he’s got his proverbial tail between his legs. Ewers enrolled at bluebloods Ohio State as the No. 1 recruit in the nation. A consensus 5-star. But if you’ve seen his tape from high school, you’d know he was damn near a 6-star recruit. A 5-star rating is meant to indicate a player who’s a projected first-round draft pick. That certainly didn’t transpire, and there are reasons why. A history of recurring injuries has dulled the sheen and halo Ewers was reflecting. However, there’s one other, more intangible reason he fell to the 231st pick and will be a backup QB in the league – at least initially.
Even though the NFL has vicariously told Quinn Ewers he’s not good enough to be a franchise quarterback in their league, he’s still better than 90% of his contemporaries in college. Programs yearn for a signal-caller like him. It’s been alleged that Ewers was offered $8 million in NIL money to forego the draft and remain in CFB for his final year of eligibility. The offer didn’t come from Texas, who had a successor in Arch Manning ready. But a school, veiled behind anonymity, did supposedly make that offer. Hindsight is 20/20, but Ewers probably thinks he should’ve accepted.
IG handle @footballfever relayed a huge revelation stemming from Quinn Ewers sliding all the way to round 7 to their 400k followers. “Back in January, Quinn Ewers turned down an $8M NIL transfer offer and decided to enter the 2025 NFL Draft…[he] is projected to sign a four-year deal worth less than $1M per year, according to Spotrac. Ewers left roughly $7M on the table by not playing one more year of college football,” read the caption. Ouch. The worst part about this isn’t the fact that Ewers’ tryst with taking a chance on himself backfired. It’s the possibility that he never really makes up for the money he left behind. Getting a second contract in the NFL is tough. More so when you’re coming in as a backup who, in theory, won’t get enough reps to prove your worth.
To borrow a Charles Barkley analogy, there are two kinds of players: bus riders and bus drivers. Trucks and trailers, if you will. To thrive as a quarterback in the NFL, you’ve got to be a force multiplier. Someone who raises the tide and accentuates the supporting cast around them to do better. Quinn Ewers had some of the best receiving corps. In the country over his 3 years at Texas. The likes of Xavier Worthy and Matthew Golden being first-round picks back-to-back years is a testament to this. But even with these weapons, Ewers didn’t quite go nuclear. The NASA base is in nearby Houston, but UT-Austin really had the rocket ship ready for takeoff and go to the moon. But Ewers couldn’t supply the fuel, the juice. In fact, some of a burnt orange persuasion will tell you he even weighed them down. But try telling that to his girlfriend.
Quinn Ewers’ girlfriend offers solace and warns the NFL of what’s coming
A slightly morbid, twisted novelty of the draft is such that players are basically waiting on 32 different trajectories for their lives. Where they end up going alters their path not just professionally, but personally. Different cities, different cultures and different people to surround yourself with. That also applies to WAGs. Now, Quinn Ewers’ girlfriend Maddy Barnes probably doesn’t mind her boyfriend’s base being Vice City. But she’s still one with how he slid all the way to pick 231 and its repercussions. She offered him some solace through motivation that doubled as a warning to the league that passed on him 230 times.
“MIAMI BABY!! TIME TO PROVE EM WRONG” wrote Maddy Barnes on IG stories, while also writing a heartfelt post. “So incredibly proud and overjoyed!! Quinn, you are so deserving of this and a whole lot more! You’re the most driven, dedicated, and genuine man both on and off the field. I’m so excited for this journey and to watch you live out your dreams. GO DOLPHINS!! Miami ain’t ready,” she captioned a picture of the couple embracing.
Quinn Ewers will hope he gets an opportunity to show he’s better than what he’s been deemed. Nobody wishes ill on anybody. But it is noteworthy that QB1 Tua Tagovailoa has a precedent of missing games through injuries and concussions. In the scenario Ewers needs to fill in, he’d have to take some real strides. His career isn’t doomed; he’s just starting 10 steps behind what he ideally would’ve wanted to. But hey, the only way from here is up.
The post Quinn Ewers as $7.2M Loss Confirmed in Career Blunder After Draft Slide Forces Girlfriend to Issue Strong Ultimatum appeared first on EssentiallySports.