Ty Simpson Reportedly Turned Down $6.5 Million Transfer Offer

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Ty Simpson is expected to be the second quarterback taken in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday night.

The former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback is viewed by some as a potential top 10 pick. ESPN NFL Draft analyst Dan Orlovsky even believes that he's a better prospect than Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, who's expected to go No. 1 overall.

"I would tell everybody that if we were going over all the guys that are the best in the league over an extended period of time, and there's different levels," Orlovsky said. "I don't believe I've stated that I'm putting Ty Simpson into that very rare group of the Lamar (Jackson)s, Josh (Allens), Patrick (Mahomes)s and Joe (Burrows) and whatnot, but I believe that he's a starting quarterback in the NFL."

Meanwhile, Simpson has revealed that he could've returned to school for big money.

Simpson received a $6.5 million transfer offer from the University of Miami. However, he decided to declare for the NFL Draft instead.

“I think the last offer was definitely one that I just had to sit down and consider, because it would have been life-changing money,” Simpson said on David Pollack’s podcast. “It would have made me the highest-paid player in college, and it was something to where I was like, I can’t just ignore this. I have to sit down and think about it. That’s how I am, I don’t want to do anything sporadic. I want to sit down and think it all out, and it really just came down to how I wanted to be remembered and what do I want to do.”

Simpson received some advice from Nick Saban

“I actually talked to Coach Saban about this,” Simpson said. “The things he was talking about were, do you want to play football in college, or do you want to play football professionally? And he was like, ‘Take the money out of it, take the rounds out of it, what do you want to do next year?’ And without a doubt, without hesitation, I said, ‘I want to play professional football.’ And he was like, ‘Well, there’s your answer.’ It was something that I’ve always dreamed of, and I felt that I was ready to take that next step and be the face of a franchise and lead a locker room.”

This story was originally published by The Spun on Apr 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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