A $13 million NIL deal offered to college quarterback Jaden Rashada has been shrouded in controversy after a collective reneged on the contract, casting his future at Florida into doubt. 

An NIL collective at Florida, called the Gator Collective, had offered a contract to Rashada worth a massive $13 million before trying to renege on the deal, according to The Athletic. 

On November 10, the four-star quarterback from California reportedly agreed terms with the collective, leading to him committing to Florida. 

'I would venture to say the Gator Collective is paying more guaranteed money than any group in the country,' said Eddie Rojas, a former Florida baseball player and head of the collective, said in April. 'When I write a contract, I want to make sure that we actually have the money in our account.' 

However, the Gator Collective is thought not to have had a sufficient fundraising level to back the deal, leading to presumptions that it required assistance from Hugh Hathcock, a mega-donor who pledged $12.6 million to Florida's athletic department in 2022, or other donors. 

A month later the deal was thrown into controversy as on December 7, Rojas is said to have sent a letter seeking to terminate the NIL deal. 

It is unclear what triggered the U-turn from Rojas but it reportedly led to crisis talks between donors and members of the athletic department, who were only just getting up to speed on the details, as the college's staff are not supposed to be directly involved with the transactions.

With Rashada's commitment to Florida cast into doubt, the parties scrambled to keep the class's highest-profile recruit in the fold before his name was finally added to the Gators' list of signees at the last minute on national signing day. 

'I just think there's a high level of trust on both ends there,' Florida head coach Billy Napier said of Rashada at the time. 

'I'm really excited about what he's going to bring to our team. … Can't compliment Jaden enough relative to who he is as a person, as a leader, his character. Jaden is a guy who came here and fell in love with the University of Florida and really connected with a lot of people here. It was sincere.'  

Despite still indicating his intent to play for Florida as recently as last week, on January 10, Rashada, the No. 56 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, was not among the sixteen early enrollees and had reportedly returned to the West Coast. 

The following day a source close to the program claimed that he wouldn't be enrolling in the program. 

But refuting a claim that Rashada had filed for a release from Florida, his father Harlen, who was a defensive back at Arizona State, told 247Sports that they were 'working through some things right now with Florida and hoping that they get resolved soon.'

Adding further controversy to the saga, The Athletic added that there is the chance for litigation over whether the initial $13million contract is binding. 

But the report claimed that the Gator Collective could look to keep Rashada on side with a lesser deal. 

It has reported offered a smaller contract, still said to be north of seven figures, provided he does not seek to enforce the original deal. 

However, the deadline for spring enrollment is January 13 and Harlen admitted the situation becomes murkier if there is not a resolution by the deadline.

He had earlier committed to the University of Miami over Florida at the end of June, just days after the Gators had pulled his scholarship offer. 

But switched back to Florida once again in November, seemingly after agreeing terms with the mega-money NIL with the Gators Collective.