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Teams are tampering with Ohio State football players, offering them giant NIL deals

Two Ohio State football players have allegedly been offered massive NIL deals by other teams tampering with them.

ByRyan Stano|
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) makes a catch against Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Christian Gray (29) in the fourth quarter during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025.
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) makes a catch against Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Christian Gray (29) in the fourth quarter during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 20, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ohio State football program won the national championship thanks to the help of their dynamic offense. Their wide receiver group is the best group in the country. Jeremiah Smith is the best of them all, and he's just a true freshman. He's only going to get better.

Carnell Tate is also on the team and is one of the most underrated players on the roster. On most other teams, he would be their top receiver. This past season, he was the Buckeyes' third option. It's crazy that someone as talented as him was their third option.

With both guys being great, some other programs have decided to tamper with those players. Other teams have allegedly offered each of them giant NIL deals to get into the transfer portal. Both deals are an extremely large sum of money for wide receivers.

Teams are tampering with two Ohio State football players

According to Pete Nakos of On3, a team offered Smith over $4.5 million, and another offered Tate over $1 million.

Tampering has become a massive issue in college football now that NIL money is allowed to be distributed. There is no penalty against it to keep teams from doing it. There's no incentive not to back-channel offers to players on other teams.

Miami is likely the team tampering with Smith. They were the ones holding things up while the Buckeyes were recruiting him out of high school a year ago. Miami has also been throwing NIL money at a lot of different players, and they just got Carson Beck while doing the same thing.

There have been rumors that Oregon is trying to pry Tate away from the Buckeyes, so they could be the ones tampering with him. Oregon has been rumored to be tampering with a ton of players across the country, so it wouldn't be surprising if they were the ones trying to take him away.

It's highly doubtful that the Buckeyes lose both of these guys. They will do anything possible to keep Smith on the team. Tate is more of a question mark since Ohio State has so many other talented options at receiver.

Tampering season is upon us.

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