The days of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in college football have completely changed the game in terms of how rosters are built, how recruits are secured and how the offseason functions.

With players able to get paid and bringing a yearly free agency to the sport via the transfer portal, now more than ever are rosters looking completely different year over year. Some teams more than others though are utilizing the portal and spending tons of money in order to put themselves in the best possible spot.

Last year in the SEC, it was the Ole Miss Rebels who had the most significant number of portal additions to make them a contender, but this past offseason it was Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers who secured the difference makers.

It didn’t come cheap either, and Kelly revealed just how much his program spent while also putting it into perspective how small the number is when comparing it to the money thrown around in the National Football League.

NEW: Brian Kelly comments on LSU’s roster cost:

“We’re going to be just about $18 million.”https://t.co/N8THOX31CO pic.twitter.com/ezTEeupSjr

— On3 (@On3sports) August 22, 2025

“Look, the NFL is $280 million a year in salary cap. We’re going to be just about $18 million,” Kelly said via his radio show. “There’s a big difference between $280 million and $18 million. So if you can’t see the difference between the two, then you’re not really understanding that what you want to develop your son to be is the best version of himself so he can get the big money in three years.

“It’s starting to resonate back to that. Be competitive with other offers that they may get, but at the end of the day, it’s still about showing them that if you come to LSU, we’re going to develop you in all facets. So when you leave here, not only are you a better player, you’re a better man, you’re a better person and you can go into an NFL locker room…The NFL knows that. They know that if they go through our program here, not only are they really good players, but they’re prepared for that next step. And that next step is really important because they’re going to pay them a lot more money than we were paying them.”

Kelly seems optimistic that while the sport has changed and continues to change, the values and goals of the players are beginning to shift back in a direction of where they have always been and what college athletics is all about. If college football can get to a place where that is truly the case, things are going to be just fine.