"Now it's whoever is going to offer the most" - Former Heisman winner Cam Newton opens up about impact of NIL on college football

The new era of NIL came into sharp focus on Thursday when newly crowned national champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes, were rocked by the news that wide receiver Jeremiah Smith had received a massive $4.5 million offer from an unnamed school to enter the transfer portal.

The situation coupled with the discourse on Ohio State reportedly spending $20 million on their national championship-winning roster has inspired mixed reactions about the new NIL environment from both fans and analysts.

During Saturday's segment of the "4th and 1" podcast, former Heisman winner Cam Newton opened up about the impact of NIL in college football.

"Now, instead of UGA (Georgia) being the only dominant team, the Alabamas being the only dominant team, the Ohio State being the only dominant team, NIL changes that because now, it's whoever is going to offer the most," Newton said. "Gone are the days when we see college football teams having the depth as they once did. Because the program is what they were committing to. Nowadays, it's the money that brings the fun." [1:21]

"So, why would I wait behind a player even though I know it's my time of waiting but, I can go and make just as much if not more. Not only get more money but get more playing time to develop me because there's nothing better than actual reps that's gonna make you better. I can teach you all that sh*t in the classroom, but sooner or later, nothing is gonna be better than actual live reps."

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Championship-winning coach addresses NIL challenges

During Friday's segment of the "Dan Patrick Show," national championship-winning coach Ryan Day addressed the unique challenges of retaining a roster in the NIL era.

"I mean, you know some of the stories of some of the things that have gone on, you know, just within the last couple of years or even in the past," Day said. "But enforcement is really strained right now. So, until we start enforcing some of these rules, like you said, people can just call someone's agents or someone's parents and offer them a certain amount of money, and then it goes from there.

"And that's just part of it. There are so many other things that come into play. So, that's one of the things to me that I think we have got to get addressed in college sports and college football is enforcement. Because right now, there is virtually none. It's gotten worse as time has gone on."

There have been unique challenges in college football over the past few months regarding the NIL aspect of college sports, which has been further complicated by the new revenue-sharing agreement between student-athletes and the NCAA.