An NFL draft slide sometimes doesn’t come with clarity or a pinpointed explanation.
Agent Ron Slavin feels that was the case with his client and former Texas quarterback, Quinn Ewers.
Prior to the three-day draft spectacle, Ewers didn’t expect to be among the first 32 selections with the second round being more of possibility. However, he was the 13th and final quarterback taken in the 2025 draft, getting selected with the No. 231 in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins.
Slavin told ESPN that he reached out to “half the league” the day after the draft to find out why Ewers had such a big slide.
The answer, he said, was “chickens–t.”
“They thought he was a third- or fourth-round pick, but too big of a name to be a clipboard holder,” Slavin told Archer. “Which I think is chickens–t.”
In other words, NFL teams thought that Ewers, who was the No. 2 recruit out of high school and was ranked No. 7 of the quarterback prospects by ESPN for the draft, was too big of a name to have as the development quarterback.
It’s one of the consequences discovered in the NIL era of college football.
After Texas lost in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff to Ohio State, Ewers had four days to pick a new program or take the next step in his career. By opting into the draft, Ewers left behind NIL deals reportedly up to $8 million if he transferred to another powerhouse school for another year in college as Texas moves on to Arch Manning.
Ewers had partnerships with several high-profile brands such as Wrangler, EA Sports, Hulu, Beats by Dre and Dr. Pepper.
His NFL rookie salary is estimated to be worth $4.33 million — nearly half of the opportunities he left behind.
Ewers at one point was considered a potentially high pick for the 2024 draft but he returned for his junior season, during which he threw for 3,472 yards, 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
In Miami, he will be behind Tua Tagovailoa and backup Zach Wilson, the ex-Jets bust who spent last season with the Broncos.
Tagovailoa’s contract has two more years of fully guaranteed money.
