The Michigan Wolverines have not exactly had stellar play at the quarterback position this season, and it sounds like Barstool Sports owner and founder Dave Portnoy wants to make sure that never happens again.
After previous starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy left to become the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Wolverines have struggled to find a reliable starting quarterback this season.
The team first turned to former walk-on Davis Warren, but after he threw six interceptions in just three games, the Wolverines turned to the more athletic Alex Orji. Orji, however, was not even able to complete a pass more than five yards beyond the line of scrimmage during Saturday’s win against the USC Trojans, finishing 7-for-12 through the air for just 32 yards.
It’s certainly not an ideal situation for the defending national champions. But Portnoy, who attended the University of Michigan, wants to use his resources to make sure this issue does not happen again in the future.
During a recent episode of the “Barstool Pick Em” podcast, Portnoy vowed to pay up to $3 million a year to help secure a top-10 quarterback out of the transfer portal every season.
“Michigan, I will be your quarterback guy,” Dave Portnoy said. “I’ll talk to Sherrone [Moore], ‘Who do you guys want? Who’s in there?’ Give me a group. I’ll go sign them. $1 million. $2 million. Whatever it is.”
I will go out and get Michigan a top 10 QB every year with NIL #GoBlue
Full @Barstoolpickem here: https://t.co/RgTVCUWhK9 pic.twitter.com/Pr9DPpvVHb
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 26, 2024
Portnoy was pressed on how much he would be willing to spend in a year and he settled on $3 million. He wasn’t willing to commit to securing the top quarterback in the portal every year. But given Michigan’s current quarterback predicament, he feels confident he can pay for a top-10 quarterback.
“I can get a quarterback. We don’t have a quarterback. If I don’t get the number one… I’m gonna get us a top 10 quarterback in the portal coming out every year. Top 10 quarterback,” Portnoy said.
Portnoy suggested that he would pay the quarterback for a weekly appearance on Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast as well as the college football recap podcast, which would technically constitute a legal name, image, and likeness deal.
“So, there’s two things. $3 million marketing agreement. I think that’s legal,” Portnoy said.
It’s not clear just how serious Portnoy is about this, but he and Barstool Sports would certainly have the funds to do it if he sincerely wanted to make it happen.
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