Texas' Steve Sarkisian believes every SEC team spending at least $30 million on roster

AlabamaArizonaBYUGeorgiaGeorgia TechHoustonIndianaIowaJames MadisonMiami (FL)MichiganNorth TexasNotre DameOhio StateOklahomaOle MissOregonTexas A&MTexasTexas TechTulaneUSCUtahVanderbiltVirginiaScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsNewsletterRecruitingOddsPicksBest Portal Classes2026 CFB PredictionsEarly Top 25Transfer QB RankingsTexas’ Steve Sarkisian believes every SEC team is spending at least $30 million on rosterTexas coach Steve Sarkisian speculated that some SEC teams are spending close to $50 million on their rosters in 2026. Brett Davis / Imagn Images Share article1HOUSTON — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian speculated that every team in the SEC has a roster budget of at least $30 million and some schools in the league may be nearing $50 million. Sarkisian, speaking to reporters before an alumni luncheon on Thursday at the Touchdown Club of Houston, alluded to public speculation around roster budgets and was asked where he believes the SEC sits in that category. “I don’t think there’s a team in our conference that doesn’t pay, at minimum, $30 million for their roster,” Sarkisian said. “I think there are some that are close to $50 million, truthfully. I think the reports of what people say (teams) are paying based on evaluation of players, I don’t think those are necessarily true.” Referencing speculative valuations that have circulated on social media in recent weeks, Sarkisian said he believes those are inaccurate. “I saw a valuation of what we pay our roster. I think that’s at minimum $10 million off,” Sarkisian said. “Just because a player has a valuation of a certain number doesn’t mean that that’s what we pay him. “Arguably, the player who should be our highest-paid player on our roster (quarterback Arch Manning) is probably the 10th-highest paid quarterback in the country. Because he has other deals through NIL that he is doing us a favor, in essence, saying, ‘Hey, you don’t have to pay me what these other guys are paying other quarterbacks because I’ve got deals that my agents and my team are working for me.’ “The valuation of our roster looks like one thing when in reality a lot of our players were different because our players are getting deals on their own through their agency.” On3 reported in April that Manning makes $2 million directly from Texas, not including any sponsorship deals he has outside the school, of which there are several. Some other top quarterbacks in college football are believed to be earning more than $5 million. The money spent on rosters has been a much-discussed topic because those numbers exceed the cap set originally by the House v. NCAA settlement, which was $20.5 million last year. However, that cap accounts only for what athletic departments pay directly to athletes across all sports. Third-party name, image and likeness deals are not subject to the cap, as long as they are approved by the College Sports Commission. Third-party NIL is a mechanism that many top-spending programs are doing their best to utilize to increase budgets to acquire top players. “I don’t think there’s a school in the SEC that’s not at least $30 million in trying to compete for an SEC championship and a national championship,” Sarkisian said. “And I would venture to say the Big Ten schools are probably not far off of that. And I’ll venture to say there’s a fair amount of ACC and Big 12 schools that are in that range. And inflation is real. That number has consistently gone up every single year.” Sarkisian lamented what he believes is a lack of enforcement of the cap. “There is no cap. Everybody’s getting more and more creative in finding ways to try to pay their players, some a little more legitimate than others. And that’s OK. … But the point is, to say that, ‘Hey, they’re the only three schools that are paying players,’ that’s not true. Everybody’s doing it. Everybody’s trying to win.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms