Georgia Quarterback Sues Florida's Bill Napier in Bombshell NIL Lawsuit

The chaotic NIL landscape of college football continues to devolve into absurdity.

On Tuesday morning, Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada filed a lawsuit against Florida head coach Billy Napier and other top Gators boosters for a failed name, image and likeness deal that would've paid him $13.85 million.

The complaint filed in the Pensacola Division of the U.S. District Court alleges Napier and Florida committed fraud, offering Rashada financial promises with no intention of paying him.

"[Hugh] Hathcock (on behalf of himself and Velocity Automotive), Castro-Walker and Coach Napier orchestrated and executed a fraud upon Jaden and were substantially and knowingly assisted by one another in carrying out the fraud," the lawsuit says, via CBS Sports. "Each of their individual schemes would not have succeeded without assistance from one another."

Rashada is represented by well-known Houston lawyer Rusty Hardin, who famously represented Deshaun Watson in his recent sexual misconduct cases. Hardin has also represented other notable athletes like Adrian Peterson and Roger Clemens.

Rashada originally committed to play for Miami in June 2022 under the terms of a $9.5 million NIL deal. The lawsuit claims Napier and Florida convinced Rashada to reject that deal in favor of their offer.

"The collective never had the money and yet they were making all of these promises to the kid," Hardin said, via CBS Sports. "You dangle life-changing, generation-changing money in front of a 19-year-old kid, who grew up without it, you can't expect that young person to not be affected by it. The bargaining power is totally unequal here."

Rashada spent his freshman season with Arizona State and transferred to Georgia earlier this offseason. The young quarterback reportedly received Kirby Smart's blessing before filing the lawsuit.