travis hunter: $5.2 NIL-valued Travis Hunter signs “exclusive” deal with $3 billion worth company ahead of 2025 NFL Draft

Former Colorado Buffaloes star Travis Hunter is a couple of weeks away from learning where his NFL home will be. In the meantime, he has secured an exclusive deal with Panini America.

The wide receiver/cornerback made the announcement through his official Instagram account on Monday morning (April 7).

“Excited to announce I have signed an exclusive autograph trading card deal with @paniniamerica! As a kid I dreamed of having my own trading card and I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have coming soon with Panini! #RatedRookie #WhoDoYouCollect,” Travis Hunter wrote.

The $5.2 million NIL valued receiver (per On3) will be featured across different lines of Panini products and will take part in select marketing initiatives.

Travis Hunter is expected to be a top-five pick in the NFL Draft, which will take place in a couple of weeks. The former Colorado player is considered one of the best players in the Draft.

After playing both cornerback and wide receiver in college, there are questions about where he would line up in the NFL.

It’s believed that most NFL teams would like to use the versatile player playing full-time at either receiver or corner and not working on both sides of the ball.

The NFL Draft will be held in Green Bay, Wisconsin from Apr. 24 to 26 at Lambeau Field. Hunter's destination should be known within the first hour of the event.

Travis Hunter eager to play both ways in NFL

Once again, Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter shared his desire to play both cornerback and wide receiver in the NFL. The former Colorado player insisted he can perform on both sides of the ball while talking to Bruce Murray on SiriusXM's NFL Radio on Monday.

After saying he could play on both sides of the ball, he added he could stay on the field for every play of the game.

"All of them if they give me the chance and opportunity to do it," Travis Hunter said.

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To play both ways, the former Jackson State player would have to attend both position meetings as well as offensive and defensive meetings. While no player has consistently been able to do it at the NFL level before, Hunter is confident he could get it done.

"Well, we've kind of got 24 hours in a day. We probably sleep for about eight of those, so we've probably got 16 more. All of them dedicated to football," Hunter said.

The Heisman Trophy winner is looking to become the first player since Chuck Bednarik to consistently play on both sides of the ball. Bednarik, a center/linebacker retired in 1962.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl