Zak Zinter: ‘I think Michigan is gonna compete with anybody in the NIL game’

ANN ARBOR, MI — Earlier this week, one of the Michigan Wolverines’ star players went on The Michigan Insider Podcast to talk Michigan football. More specifically, Michigan guard Zak Zinter talked some NIL, and many Wolverines fans will be pleased to hear that Michigan football is not nearly as far behind as some people believed it to be.

Zak Zinter says Michigan football can compete with anyone in NIL

Here is what Michigan star guard Zak Zinter had to say about NIL money at the University of Michigan:

“Compared to the millions that I’d be leaving on the table in the NFL — I mean, you really couldn’t compare the two,” Zinter said on The Michigan Insider Podcast. “But it is nice to know that if you’re coming back, you’re not going to be, ’Oh, man, I don’t got no money to spend or to hang out.’ It’s definitely not bad in the NIL game in Michigan,” he said. “I think some people give it a bad rap. But there’s guys on the team making money.”

How does Michigan football differ from other schools in NIL?

“Some of these other schools, they have almost like a set balance of what you’re going to make a year you’re there,” Zinter said. “Notre Dame had, for everyone on the team — no matter walk-on, scholarship, first-year, early enrollee, senior — everyone had a set amount that they were going to get. Michigan doesn’t have that yet … I’m sure it’s coming. It’s just everything’s so new that not everyone on the team is getting a certain set of money. So that was really the only big difference that I really saw.”

Is it good for the locker room for freshman to get massive contracts before playing a down?

“What I’ve heard through my friends at the other teams is some of these freshmen that are coming in and are getting these huge NIL contracts — it’s kind of messing the locker room vibe up a little bit,” he said. “You’ve got these seniors, third, fourth-year guys who have been playing for two or three years. Then you’ve got this freshman coming in who’s making a million bucks more than them. I’ve heard it messes the vibe up in the locker room a little bit.”

Zak Zinter lays down the bottom line for NIL at Michigan

“I think Michigan is gonna compete with anybody in the NIL game,” Zinter told Sam Webb.

While the Michigan Wolverines may not be like other programs — such as Ohio State, Notre Dame, and more — the Wolverines absoloutely are making sure that their players are getting paid. Is it NFL money? Nope, nor should it be; it’s college football. That being said, for star players and smaller names alike, there is plenty of opportunity to make some cash in Ann Arbor.

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Managing Editor at Cj@BluebyNinety.com. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other steaming platforms. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest and most influential Michigan media outlets there is!