\u201cIt is what it is, at the end of the day, and I have the same opportunity that everyone else does,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m beyond thankful for that and want to go in there and play my game. I want to learn and develop as a quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/6472be0bed86399fef3c3136d7df2094.jpeg\"\/)
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Miami Dolphins quarterback Quinn Ewers (14) does drills during the NFL football team\u2019s rookie minicamp Friday, May 9, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky)<\/p>\n
As a seventh-round pick and Miami\u2019s second-to-last pick in the draft<\/a>, Ewers still signed a 4-year rookie contract worth $4.3 million, with a signing bonus of $131,576, according to data from Spotrac<\/a>. His base salary in the first year is $840,000, and then it increases to just over $1 million in his second season, with modest bumps at years three and four. The signing bonus is the only guaranteed money in the contract.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n MORE: Sarkisian recaps NFL draft, says recruiting will \u2018hammer\u2019 state of Texas at Houston event <\/a><\/p>\n There were reports that Ewers turned down upward of $8 million in potential NIL deals to transfer and play another year in college, prompting questions about why Ewers wouldn\u2019t stick around to make more money, and maybe improve his draft stock. In previous interviews, he said he wanted to leave a legacy at Texas. He did that, and it was time for him to take his next step.<\/p>\n On the Pate State Speaker Series, part of Josh Pate\u2019s College Football Show<\/a>, Sarkisian had a message for people who suggested Ewers is making a bad decision.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody has a comment about a kid who leaves a school to go to another school for more money. How could he do that? What\u2019s going on with college football? All of a sudden, here\u2019s Quinn Ewers, who decides not to go to another school, saying he wants to leave a legacy at Texas and go chase my dreams of playing in the NFL,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now those same critics, those same people, are saying, \u2018How could he not go take that money?’\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com\/newsletters<\/a><\/p>\n Pate replied sarcastically, \u201cAre you suggesting hypocrisy?\u201d And then Sarkisian went a step further with his remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes I wonder: Who are we to judge and criticize a young man who\u2019s making a decision about his future? Who has only done things the right way, to the best of his ability. Who gave everything he could to our program, and decided that \u2018Now\u2019s my time. It\u2019s time for me to go on the next journey of my life,\u2019 and that\u2019s trying to play quarterback in the NFL. We\u2019re here to support him, but to criticize him for not taking the money, what are we even talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n