HOUSTON \u2014 Texas coach Steve Sarkisian speculated that every team in the SEC has a roster budget of at least $30 million and some schools in the league may be nearing $50 million.<\/p>\n
Sarkisian, speaking to reporters before an alumni luncheon on Thursday at the Touchdown Club of Houston, alluded to public speculation around roster budgets and was asked where he believes the SEC sits in that category.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a team in our conference that doesn\u2019t pay, at minimum, $30 million for their roster,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cI think there are some that are close to $50 million, truthfully. I think the reports of what people say (teams) are paying based on evaluation of players, I don\u2019t think those are necessarily true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referencing speculative valuations that have circulated on social media in recent weeks, Sarkisian said he believes those are inaccurate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a valuation of what we pay our roster. I think that\u2019s at minimum $10 million off,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cJust because a player has a valuation of a certain number doesn\u2019t mean that that\u2019s what we pay him.<\/p>\n
\u201cArguably, the player who should be our highest-paid player on our roster (quarterback Arch Manning) is probably the 10th-highest paid quarterback in the country. Because he has other deals through NIL that he is doing us a favor, in essence, saying, \u2018Hey, you don\u2019t have to pay me what these other guys are paying other quarterbacks because I\u2019ve got deals that my agents and my team are working for me.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThe valuation of our roster looks like one thing when in reality a lot of our players were different because our players are getting deals on their own through their agency.\u201d<\/p>\n