Jordan Addison Back at USC Riding in Caleb Williams’ NIL Paid Whip

The Minnesota Vikings are on their bye this week so players are enjoying their time off in different ways. For example: rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison was posting Instagram stories on Wednesday night with former teammate and possible #1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, at the University of Southern California, one of two power-5 division 1 schools where Addison played college football.

Caleb Williams to the Vikings what da helllll pic.twitter.com/HRh7BilLNf

— NFL YOUNGBOY🖤 (@strappedbykhi) November 30, 2023

Caleb Williams to the Minnesota Vikings confirmed?

Too bad we can’t recruit quarterbacks from college to the pros because the Minnesota Vikings would have one hell of a good shot at Caleb Williams, given their WR1 Justin Jefferson is one of the best in football and their WR2 Jordan Addison is one of his best friends.

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That’s before we even get to Darrisaw and O’Neill as his tackles… I need to stop because this dream is not worth having. If Williams does declare for the draft, he will be a top-3 pick and the Vikings have no realistic chance of picking that high. Still, it’s fun to dream. And did you see that car?

Nebraska head coach, Matt Rhule, says there are college players making $6-$7 million per year in NIL contracts. If true, you’d sure think Caleb Williams would be one of those guys.

Of course, no NIL contract lasts forever (that we know of) and Williams’ stock may never be higher than it is right now, especially should USC suffer another underwhelming season while he’s under center.

For those reasons, I could see the Williams decision going either way. But, unless he stays in school and either he or the Vikings completely flop in 2024, there’s no future where he is throwing professional passes to Jordan Addison in the near future.

Related: Josh Dobbs is fine but he isn’t Kirk Cousins

Jordan Addison having NIL regrets?

Speaking of Jordan Addison, you have to wonder if the 21-year-old has any regrets about coming out for the draft last offseason. Sure, he’s had a very successful rookie campaign and his future looks extremely bright. None of that would have been guaranteed had he decided to play out his Senior year at USC.

And in 2023, it’s unlikely Jordan would have made in NIL what he will make as a rookie 1st round pick in the NFL, which according to Spotrac.com is over $7 million in cash. And that’s before we even get into endorsement deals, which is what NIL is (or what it is supposed to be).

But most of that cash is via his rookie signing bonus, which has already been paid out. Next year, Addison will make under $1.4 million in cash, before that eventually goes up to $2.2 million in 2026. But as the star wide receiver at USC, could Addison have made $2, $3, even $4 million? It’s not impossible.

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With a really good season, the former 4-star high school athlete out of Maryland could have gone even higher and made even more money, not to mention the lifestyle he would be living as one of the kings on USC campus. Of course, there’s always the other side of the coin in that conversation, which I’m sure he realizes.

So in the end, much like we are very happy of his decision, I’m sure Jordan is happy he is a member of the Minnesota Vikings. But I’m sure he’s feeling pretty big time back on in Southern Cal this week.